Loveless
by new.years.eve
Summary: MerDer Meredith is a famous actress but comes across a handsome doctor who has more than one secret in his closet. CHAPTER 16 i'm so sorry guys... you'll see why!
1. An Accident with an Outcome

**Hello everybody. This is my first ever Grey's Anatomy Fanfic so i don't really know what you experts are going to make of it but hey... here it goes.**

**Basically, the gist is that Meredith is a famous actor and Derek is a doctor/surgeon person but you'll find out more about Derek as time goes by. The story includes Addison, Christina and probably some other characters but we'll see where it goes!**

Cameras were flashing from every direction she turned, the light was blinding and her heartbeats continually crept closer and closer together and yet somehow, Meredith Grey had become completely accustomed to this sensation.

"Meredith!" A completely random photographer called out from the midst of the mass.

"Lets see a smile," another teased and Meredith, as always obeyed to the spotlights commands.

This type of behaviour did not bother Meredith in the slightest, partially because she didn't see each individual face of the people tormenting her with orders of where to stand, how to look and partially because this side of the press was the side that came with the job of an actress. The side which didn't was the fans constantly bombarding and recognizing her wherever she went. The need for a holiday in the middle of nowhere was well overdue and yet Meredith continued to work on new films, never slowing down to look after herself. This, perhaps to hide her from the tragic truths of her life which thankfully the public didn't get to know, was the reason she was loveless.

She had an almost endless supply of money, she had the looks due to the expensive clothing and makeup and she wasn't like the other actresses she knew. If anyone had the time or patience to get to know Meredith, they would find her to be a kind, sometimes shy and lovable person but why would the public or media be interested in someone like that? Life was one big act for Meredith Grey but she learned to live with it.

After leaving the red carpet of the premiere she had just attended, she drove away in her BMW X5 and left the papparazzi behind, giving her some time to think. For the last 5 years she had been in the limelight, producing good movies, winning an oscar as well as other awards for her roles but in as many years she had collected and used about twice as many men than awards.

"Let's see," Meredith thought as her car came to a stop at a set of traffic lights, "There was Eric, he was great but too involved with himself to even notice that I had left him. Then there was Tom, he was just a moron who wanted fame, Jake who wanted money, Liam who wanted drugs and Rob who wanted nothing more than sex. Who else? Sam, Dan, Alex, Damien, Callum, Ethan, Will, George, Luke, Jack, Ben, James, Ollie and Matt all who had resulted in short flings that for them meant nothing. But I'm looking for more. I should just give up now."

As this depressing notion came to mind, Meredith tilted her head back against the leather headrest and began to close her eyes. As the light disappeared and all other of Meredith's senses were heightened, she heard a loud engine of a car coming closer and closer. Not daring to look, Meredith closed her eyes closer together so that it started hurting her cheeks. A horrible surge of pain made Meredith scream out in pain and the deafening crunching of metal to her right threw her across the car and made the world of all senses disappear.

The next time Meredith opened her eyes, there were lights everywhere, surrounding her but this was not the usual sensation she was used to. There were no orders being barked at her, just people hurrying around whilst she sat up on what seemed to be an ambulance gurney. The lights were continually falshing blue and red and it was then that she noticed the police cars. Apparently, what she assumed had been a crash, had caused quite the commotion.

She looked around at the mess spread out across the road. Her beautiful BMW had been crushed into less than half a car and it looked as though there were three other cars involved. Two cars had pulled over to help and a crowd had gathered. Three men approached Meredith's bed and she, being a woman- heck, being human, noticed the dashingly handsome looks of one of them.

They were discussing something secretly just out of Meredith's ear-shot and she strained to hear. She looked down at her arm in a bandage and wondered why it didn't hurt.

"Excuse me, what has happened? What is going on?" Meredith pleaded with the men talking.

"Mam, you need to lay down and let us take care of you, we're going to the hospital to run some tests but everything looks pretty minor, you're a lucky one," One of the paramedics said as he lifted Meredith's gurney up into the ambulance and closed the doors after entering the back with her.

"I didn't cause the accident did I?" Meredith asked, a million thoughts running through her head.

"No, the driver who caused the accident died instantly. There were three other victims, a couple who managed to get away with a few scratches and bruises and a banker who is already on his way to hospital. He's got pretty serious injuries. Hey, aren't you Meredith Grey?" The monotone voice seemed to lift at the end of the explanation and Meredith had no choice but to reply.

"Yeah," She sighed, knowing that this whole accident would come back to bite her in the ass at some point.

"Is there anyone we can call for you?" Came a voice from the front of the ambulance.

"Actually, yes my roommate Christina. Her number is on my phone," Meredith said, a little exhausted, pulling out her mobile from her pocket with her left and functioning arm.

Meredith had been in the hospital for over an hour now and so far not a lot had happened. She understood that she didn't have the worst injuries so she would be patient until someone came to see her. At that moment, her best friend/roommate walked through the doors into her room.

"Oh my God Meredith, what did you do this time?" Christina exclaimed, immediately jumping to the conclusion that this had to be Meredith's fault. She was not one of the most optimistic people to say the least but whenever she was needed, she was there for Meredith. She had been for years on end now and had learned to deal with the press and public eye of being best friend's with one of the most famous actresses in the world.

"And what the hell are you doing in this hospital? I just saw a woman out there with no shoes and a little plastic bag which contained what looked to be her whole life. We're going to have to get you out of here. It's alright, I'll make some calls."

This was one of many of Christina's acts. There was the angry act where she would suddenly start talking in an extremely high pitch, there was the sad act that was a mixture of denial and sarcasm and then there was this act- the act of worry. She rambled on and on until someone would dare to stop her.

"CHRISTINA," Meredith yelled over the noise of constant jibberish coming out of Christina's mouth.

Christina looked taken aback and took a while to recover from the initial shock of sound.

"What?" she asked giggling slightly to herself from the adrenalin rush that Meredith had caused by being in a freaking accident.

"I'm fine. I didn't do anything, I'm the victim here and I know that's hard for you to believe. I just have to wait for some doctor to come do an exam and then wait for some X-rays to come back and I'm free to go. I don't want to cause anymore trouble to the nice people who saved me ok?"

Even though Meredith was the one with the money and status it tended to be Christina who judged and went for first class of everything. Christina took a breath and rolled her eyes in reaction to Meredith's attitudes.

After being in the same room for about an hour with Christina, Meredith was becoming irritated with the drilling she was receiving. Questions like:

"Did you see who hit you?"

"What state is your car in?"

"Were there any witnesses?"

Basically, the types of questions that Meredith didn't have a clue how to answer as she had been unconcious for the most part. To save her from yet more questions from the caring but still annoying Christina, a doctor walked in with their head down. Meredith recognised the features of the man from the accident. Christina jumped to Meredith's bedside for support.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Shepherd. We've run some tests and it seems that everything is clear and you can go home once we've discharged you which won't take long, I promise," the handsome doctor from the accident said and ended with an extremely infectious and cute smile.

"Thank you Doctor," Christina piped in for Meredith.

Doctor Shepherd couldn't even look at Christina for a second, he was completely transfixed by his patient's natural beauty. Her hair was like silk flowing over her shoulders, the tousled waves accentuating the curves in her body. Her delicate hands were clenched in tiny fists with whatever emotion she seemed to be feeling at the moment and then he gained eye contact and it took the air out of his lungs in one fail swoop. The sparkling hazel pools reflected any light they could receive as if trying to reflect any problems that came her way, a defense mechanism. He looked more closely and saw the extent and the depth to which they went.

She looked away, slightly blushing from the eye contact that had been held for the extensive period of time.

"Thanks," Meredith whispered.

There was something about that man that was different to every other set of eyes she had ever looked into, something important to her above everything else, trust. As the hours passed, an exam was done by none other than the dreamy docter, Meredith returned home, Christina still badgering her about her car and other logical matters but all that was on Meredith's mind was that set of eyes and the worry that she would never look into them again.

**Is it worth continuing? If yay- press purple button and tell me what possible ideas you have. If nay- press purple button and tell me why!!**

**Thank you**

**exxx**


	2. Banter over Potatoes

**Hey, here is a very quick update setting a bit of the plot so bear with me!!**

It had been 6 weeks since the accident and Meredith's arm had recovered with little effort and time which she was very thankful for. She had addressed the press and dealt with the media and for once, she had not been portrayed as the bad guy. The papers were completely fair on her and she was grateful that they were finally giving her some peace and quiet to recover. Well, it was just less hectic than usual, she still constantly got bombarded by fans in every direction.

Meredith was out doing her shopping in the usual style, big sunglasses, hat and dressed down for the occasion. Simple grocery shopping could often end up with some sort of papparrazzi member following her home so she was having none of it today.

Pushing the shopping trolley in front of her, she was picking out some fruit and vegetables in the first isle of the store. She was in auto-pilot and was selecting apples, then kiwis, then mangos, then a cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes. She went to take one of the potatoes from the barrell they were displayed in and pulled back slightly when another hand went for the same one. The other hand retracted too, out of politeness. Meredith looked up to smile politely at the person but was startled to see none other than Dr McDreamy as Christina had nicknamed him, not that Mer had protested.

"I'm sorry, you take it," he said offering the potato to her.

"No no, it's ok. It looks kind of rough anyway," Meredith said in a bid to seem cool and collected.

"Oh, so you want me to have it cos it's rough?" he joked.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that I was just saying that after taking a closer look I just re-considered and I think you should do the same. I mean, look at it. It's sort of mingled shape, it's got random black dots on and is trying to pass itself as a potato. If you were going to pick it, it would be out of sympathy. It's what we call a sad potato," she rambled, embarrased to have been thought of as above the manky potato.

"A sad potato?" he laughed at her cuteness, "You know I was kidding right? About you not wanting it but it being worthy for me."

"Right, I know," again, Meredith tried to seem cool and collected, and failed.

"OK," McDreamy looked away with an expression, clearly thinking Meredith was crazy to be personifying a potato.

"I'm sorry Dr Shepherd, I'll let you get back to your shopping," she said shyly.

"Please, call me Derek. And surely that should have happened the other way around. So what are you, the big famous hit, doing shopping here hey?" Derek asked, never seeing her in here before and lightening the tone to small talk rather than sad potatoes.

"Well, usually I come in here at about midnight so that I don't get bothered but since I'm not on any sets at the moment, I wait for all the kids to be in school, all the parents to be at work and shop during daylight hours. How come you're not at the hospital?" She asked, both of them moving into the yoghurt isle, having decided to completely pass on the whole potato issue.

"Got a couple of days off so thought I'd catch up on some errands. Turns out it was worth it, bumping into you," he directed a very sumptuous smile her way. She turned away, blushing as he thought she would. Derek knew the effect he had on woman and normally he would just play up to it but with her he was making the effort and she was worth every second of it.

"How come you're picking out so many yoghurts?" Meredith asked in reponse to the 12 pack of yoghurts he had just picked out.

"Errr, well, I don't live alone. I have quite a large family all of whom eat a fair bit," he said cautiously, leaving Meredith stunned. She stopped in her tracks, shocked at this revelation. She had been fantasising and dreaming about this guy for the last 6 weeks and all things that were dreamt about distinctively did not need a wife or any family member involved.

Of course he was married, a catch like him? How could he not be. Meredith still hadn't moved. Maybe it meant something completely different. He lived with his brothers maybe or his cousins or parents. Oh gosh, surely he didn't live with his parents. By the time she had come out of her paralyzed thought process, Derek had disappeared and was absolutely no where in sight. She tried to hunt him down subtly in the store but had lost him. She let out a disappointed sigh and returned to her usual shopping rounds.

"Christina? CHRISTINA?" Meredith shouted around the huge house that belonged to the pair and hoped that she was in to help with the shopping. Of course, no such luck came and she ended up putting every last item away and even cleared up the mess made by Christina's breakfast and lunch. Just after finishing the cleaning, none other than Christina walked in from her bedroom with an ipod in her ears. Meredith tilted her head at her with a look of despair.

"Christina?" Meredith said in a calm voice as to not let her temper rip her best friends throat out.

"What?" Christina replied, completely oblivious to the mess having been cleaned up.

Meredith just shook her head.

"I saw McDreamy in the store today. Looking as lucious and scrumptious as I remember. Why does he have to be married! Argh!" She exclaimed.

"McDreamy is married?" Christina said in disbelief. She could tell Mer had really taken a liking to him and felt for the girl. She wasn't the luckiest in love to say the least. In fact, she couldn't hold a relationship down if her life depended on it and the relationship was the weakest dead ant that could exist.

Meredith flopped down onto the leather couch.

**Like i said, its not really a chapter full of excitement, partially cos most of it was about a sad potato! But hey, i'd like to thank the following for being so lucious and scrumptious- Casey, DORKY GiiiRL, greysanatomyroxmysox (lol ur username is so true!!), Dilly 0702, Endzi, Luella, Emelie, Whatever, Paulis8707, TCF, Melanie, Lou, payalf, IslandGurl90. You guys are fantastic at reviewing!! i love them and it motivates me so keep it up!!**

**Can anyone guess the story with Derek? hmmmmmmmmm!!**


	3. The Dainty Bookstore

**Interesting thoughts from the reviews I have to say, lots of guessing of which NONE are right. And no lou, Mcdreamy is not gay!!! i wouldnt dare do such a thing to all us girlys!! **

**Thank you to the following who have made me smile, laugh, excited and ecstatic:**

**2SeXy4MYsCRUbS, MrsDrShepherd (hehe, thought the potato would amuse more than just me!), hanna, TCF, Dilly0702, Lou, Mrs.Dr.DerekShepherd, DORKY GiiiRL, Luella, LoVe09er. Ya'll fantastic, yay!!**

A week had passed since the meeting of Derek in the grocery store and Meredith was just coming to terms with the fact that potentially the love her life, was indeed married with a huge family, happy and not in the slightest bit interested in Meredith. She had thought it over and decided it was for the best, not knowing Derek all that well- in fact, not at all- it wasn't the biggest devastation of her life.

Meredith had decided to drown the sorrows of her life in one of two ways in which woman do, having one night stands whilst drunk or shopping. She chose the latter at first, but she had decided if it didn't work then there was no option but drinking and sex, obviously. Talking was not an option especially with Christina as a best friend. She'd probably end up hitting Meredith and forcing her to snap out of her misery. She'd done it before and Meredith didn't want to try it again out of fear of more annoying Christina slaps that couldn't hurt a fly but could drive a full-grown man insane.

Walking along the street, a little girl with blond hair tied in pigtails and big brown eyes approached her with what looked to be a camera and a pen and paper. Meredith always loved to meet her fans and especially liked the little girls who claimed to look up to her, making Meredith feel slightly inadequate for the job considering just a second before she had been thinking about one night drunken stands!

"Hi," Meredith said, knowing the girl was probably a little nervous to speak first.

"Hello, can I have a picture and autograph please?" The little girl said timidly.

"You sure can, what's your name?" Meredith asked, thinking the precious girl was literally the cutest thing to grace the earth.

"Gracie," the little girl said, slightly more relaxed than before.

"And how old are you?" Meredith asked the routine questions.

"I'm five," Gracie said gaining confidence by the second.

"What's your favourite thing to do?"

"I like to act," Gracie responded.

"Really? Me too," Meredith said, exaggerating a shocked look. Gracie giggled.

Meredith took the pen and paper out of the little girl's hand and wrote:

To Gracie,

Best of luck with the acting and future,

Love Meredith Greyxxxxxxx

She then wrote a contact number for an agency and gave it to the little girl's parents thinking she would be perfect for some of the roles in the movies she was auditioning for soon.

After taking a picture with the little girl she continued her way down the street. She heard a scuffling in the bushes and then noticed a black car slowly following her movement. Another person from across the street trying and failing to look casual was holding a camera by his side.

"Oh crap!" Meredith muttered, hurrying her pace of walking. The amount of papparazzi grew until there was a big crowd following her down the street. She turned off the high street in an attempt to loose them. Turning as much as she could she ended up in a small street which was narrow and had small, dainty shops running along the sides. She saw what seemed to be a pretty empy book store and entered it, swiftly closing the door behind her. Once in the store she lowered all the blinds without even consulting whoever owned the shop and leant against the door.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" A strangely familiar voice came out of nowhere.

"Oh, I'm so sorry it's just there's a bit of a crowd outside wanting my picture, looking in the state I do and I really don't want them to see me. Derek?" Still not seeing the person but the voice, she could distinguish from a mile away.

"Hey," he smiled, walking over to the door where Meredith was leaning.

Meredith watched his pathway with her eyes as he made a beeline for the door. She didn't move and as he approached her, he leant in and brushed past her petite frame in order to place the lock on the door, enabling for her to move away.

"So, running from the pap hey?" He said jokingly, letting Meredith know that he wasn't angry.

"Well, sort of. It's gotten worse since the accident. They want to see me all disheveled and feeling sorry for myself so they can print some sad and false story in the tabloids. You know, the usual!" Meredith replied. "What about you, you own this place?"

"Well, sort of," Stealing the answer she had just given.

"Wow, surgeon and librarian. Impressive. This place is fantastic," Meredith said, tracing her fingers over the shelves and shelves of books. From her initial analysis of the building outside, nothing much had changed. The inside had so much character, untreated wooden floors with random paint stains and other such mess, dust ridden shelves, an old fashioned till, towards the back of the small room where all the crumbling and old books were stored was a small winding staircase which she assumed was another level of crumbling and old books.

Derek watched her expressions in amazement as she made her way round the book store with the various nooks and crannys. He still couldn't believe that Meredith Grey was in his book store, looking her usual fabulous self. She smiled at one of the titles of a fiction novel and he couldn't help his face lighting up at the sight of her smile. It spread from one ear to the other, making her lips look that tiny bit more irresistable. As she turned her head in exploration, her hair would follow the opposite direction with such fluid movement it looked like honey being poured.

He moved to the counter behind the till and sat on the swivel stool. He took a deep breath, trying to make the feeling inside him pass. Once she had made a full circle of the book store she turned round to him and tilted her head.

"It's not in the best of shapes, I know…"

"No no no, I love it," Meredith interrupted, "It has a lot of character."

"Thanks," He smiled, glad she didn't think it was rough.

"So how do you have time to run a book store and be a surgeon?" She asked curiously.

"Well, on my days off I run the book store," He said simply.

"That's quite a contrast of proffesions there," she said.

"What about you? What do you do when you're not acting on sets and going to premieres and doing the glitzy glamerous lifestyle?" He questioned.

"It's definitely not as glitzy glamorous as it sounds, trust me. In fact, it sucks," Meredith said, finding it extremely easy to open up to Derek. It must have had something to do with the trusty eyes that were currently gazing at her. She made her way over to where Derek was sat and jumped up onto the counter, twisted her body and crossed her legs on the surface.

"Why does it suck?" He said with disbelief as he looked at the profile of her face.

"No privacy, little sleep, constant need to look good, course you wouldn't need to worry about that," Meredith complained.

"Oh so I don't look good?" He teased.

"Nope!" She smiled, obviously lying.

"Wh.. a.. uh.. I…" He stumbled, feining pain and confusion.

"I'm kidding, I meant that you don't need to worry about it cos you're a handsome guy with little effort," She flirted.

"Why thank you," He responded, "Gotta say, you're not that bad yourself."

She laughed which caused him to laugh, both looking away blushing.

"What did you mean by sort of when you said you owned the place?" She said, wondering.

"Well, it was my wife's book store," Derek said distantly and coldly.

**Ooooooooooooooooo, who's his wife? oooooo, what's the story there? Ooooooooooo, why the heck is Derek half surgeon, half librarian?! (ok i actually dont know the answer to that last one but hey i needed three ooooo's for dramatic effect!!) tell me what you think... **


	4. Best Friends with Christina

**My infamous A/N that go on forever:**

**O I say, thank you oh so much for the lovely and beautiful reviews. Some of them made me literally fall off my chair laughing!! To the following thanks (for being a ray of sunshine on such a cloudy day!) : Absent Heart, hanna, Lou (LOL!), TCF, McLovingGrey's, Emelie, Mrs.DrDerekShepherd, 2SeXy4MYsCRUbS (haha!! oookkk! looong review but it made me laugh so much and was tres interesting!), LadyCJx (i do try to make you laugh especially with your randomness!), GGjunky (sshhhh, it doesnt remind you of Notting Hill!!), Dilly 0702, IslandGurl90 (guys, check this review out cos its HILARITY!!). Soo, thanks guys!**

**Plus, does it remind you of notting hill cos of the book store thing cos without that and the fact that mer is a famous film star its just normal- i swear!!**

Meredith was still sat on the edge of the counter, with no direct body link to the floor. This, she was soon to find out, was not the best position to be sat in when finding out this information.

"Well, it was my wifes book store," Derek said.

All he saw of Meredith's response was a shocked expression and the rest of it he had to hear, as she toppled over the edge of the counter and fell straight to the floor. The sequence of sounds coming out of her mouth was the following:

"Wha…? woah… ahhhh… urgh… crap!" Meredith exclaimed.

Derek started to laugh as he got off his swivel stool and moved his way round to the other side of the counter. From the floor, Meredith opened her eyes and saw Derek nervously poking his head round the corner of the counter with an apologetic smile.

"You OK?" He asked cautiously.

"Do I look like I'm freaking OK?" She looked up at him angrily. Her face softened at his worried expression. She put a hand up to her head and felt blood.

"Oh God, you're actually hurt?" He said, starting to realize the fall was serious.

"Yeah, but it's ok, my head's not actually the thing that hurts the most at the moment. Listen, I have got to go," Meredith said, taking the hand he was offering and standing up. She felt a little woozy as she reached the full 5"5 height that she was.

"You can't go with your head like that, at least let me take a look at it," He said, not wanting her to leave. "We'll talk, I'll explain."

"What's to explain? And my roommate Christina will know how to handle my head. God knows, she always does," Meredith sighed and walked hurriedly out of the book store, unlocking the lock and hoping to God that the papparrazzi had gone.

Once she had left the shop and realized the papparrazzi were not in sight, she looked up to the book store sign and saw it entitled: "House of Books".

"How original," Meredith thought to herself, slightly bitter at the fact that indeed, McDreamy was married.

* * *

The following day, Meredith was in her usual slob out place in the lounge, that being the huge armchair that, because of her petite frame, could fit about three of her on, comfortably. 

"Have you not moved once all day? That is so pathetic," Christina's voice came, not even waiting for a reponse to her first question.

"It's not pathetic, it's mourning," Merdith replied, still not having told Christina about the McDreamy encounter the previous day.

"Oh right," Christina said a little more sensitively. Well as senstive as it could get, coming from Christina. She had completely forgotten that in two days, it was the anniversairy of Ellis Grey's death. It had been a death that went down in the history books. She had been suffering from Alzeimer's and had commited suicide. You can only imagine what the press made of it and Meredith's reaction. After 8 years, Meredith had learnt to deal and cope with it and as their relationship was not always the best mother-daughter moments, she rarely even got that sad on the day but maybe this year was different.

"What was the "Oh right" for huh?" Meredith challenged, wondering how she had found out about the McDreamy situation that was currently making Meredith want to cry and crawl into a fetal position and never move.

"Errr… well… Your mother was a very nice person back in her prime," Christina tried.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Meredith asked, thinking Christina had gone mental. "This is about McDreamy."

"Oh God, do you even know the extent to how dark and twisted you actually are?" Christina said, realizing that the whole lazy-can't-be-bothered-to-move situation was because of a boy and not her crazed dead mother.

"OK, this guy is seriously my soulmate. His eyes tell me everything. I look into them and they scream "Marry me Meredith". I literally hear them Christina," Meredith started rambling. "Then, yesterday, I ran into his wife's book store where he happened to be taking a shift. Argh, stupid Mcdreamy, with his stupid Mcwife. You know, she's probably some absolute whore who is ugly and dwarf-like. Not that I have anything against the dwarves, I mean they're my favourite type of mini-people…"

"Oh my God," Christina muttered to herself as she had to listen to her best friend ramble.

"Meredith, seriously. The eyes? Seriously? I mean, come on, how much can you tell from one set of eyes. Sure they were McDreamy but seriously? Soulmates?" Christina set in some reality, thinking saying the word seriously more times than it made possible human sense would make Meredith think.

"He's married Christina. MARRIED. My freaking soulmate is married." She moaned in response to Christina's sarcastic and skeptic questions.

"OK," Christina tried her sympathetic caring side, which let's face it, was seen less often than a mole hibernating these days. "Tell me what happened," she said as she joined Meredith on the gigantic armchair.

Meredith had explained the whole situation about three times before Christina finally understood what had happened.

"Oh my God," Christina said, mimicking the way that Meredith would. "Is you're head ok?"

"Christina," Meredith scowled. "It's fine, it was just a little cut. Nothing a washing of my hair couldn't take care of. He's married."

"OK, we can see who went to medschool here and who dropped out half way through to persue acting!" Christina dryly said.

"What?"

"What was his answer to the book store owning question Mer?"

"It was my wife's? That's what I'm saying, he's married. Did you even listen?" Meredith said sadly.

"Wake the hell up Mer," Christina said in disbelief at her friend's dappiness, giving her one of her infamous slaps across the forehead. "WAS, Mer, WAS was was was was WAS his wife's book store. For such a successful person, you can be so thick sometimes!"

"Ohhhh, I see," Meredith said, brightening up. "So that's why you were not acting shocked when I told you the story?"

"Errr… yeah sure, that's why," Christina said. "Had nothing to do with the fact I wasn't all that interested. Nothing at all. Nope, no-no-no, nothing at all."

Meredith simply sneered in response.

* * *

2 days later, Meredith was walking along side the hundreds and hundreds of gravestones and memorials of the cemetery. It wasn't the best feeling in the world, in fact, she'd rather be banging her head against a wall several times than be here but it was all for her mother. 

Meredith reached the gravestone that belonged to Ellis Grey which was still relatively new being only 8 years old compared to some of the gravestones which were 200 years old. The stone engraved:

'A devoting wife, loving mother and carer of mankind'

"PAH," Meredith blurted out whilst reading it. The only part that was true on the engravement was the carer of mankind and even that was slightly wrong considering she only did it for twenty years and mankind had been going for a lot longer than that.

Meredith didn't care to stay for too long. After about ten minutes of thinking about her mother and all the good times, which were hard to find, she lay the white roses down on the ground near the grave stone and walked away. Walking down the rows she began to wonder the heartache that some people must actually feel when they come to these places. She wished she could be more attached and commited to her mother's death but her mother had never really given her a reason to. Just before she had died, she told meredith that because she didn't complete MedSchool those long 15 years ago, she was a failure and her life would amount to nothing out of the ordinary. Mid-thought, a voice made her turn around.

"Meredith?" The vocal chords of a very handsome and gorgeous man called out.

**OK, i'm not going to keep you in the dark any longer- i swear. The next chapter will reveal all!! I promise. Since a few people said how much they liked Christina's character in the story, thought she deserved a chapter to express her/my own opinions!!**

**I heard that if you click the purple button then all your wishes come true!! interesting!! (whistles)**

**lol, basically. preddy please review and let me know what you think!!**


	5. Madly, Deeply, Forever

**Here it is, what the hell happened to Derek's wife?!! **

Meredith turned around to see Derek's delicious frame in the morning sunlight.

"Hey… listen," She said, approaching him with an apologetic smile on her face, "I'm sorry about how I just ran out the other day without letting you explain. It was unfair and rude and a …"

"Meredith?" Derek interrupted. "It's ok, there's actually quite a fair bit to explain so I'm not quite sure how you'd have reacted. I think it's much safer to let it all out whilst you're standing on the ground!"

"Mean… that was mean," Meredith said, feigning hurt and hitting his arm lightly.

"And that wasn't? I'm sure you'll get over it!" He responded, his smile becoming the source of happiness and light for Meredith to focus on.

"Don't be so sure," Meredith scowled in a joking manner. "So what's all this palaver about a wife?"

Meredith wanted to approach the topic at hand but didn't want the light mood to be taken away so early in their encounter.

"Well, what I was going to say before you fell and ran," Derek paused, not just for dramatic effect but also as he couldn't stop the smirk on his face, recalling the moment. "I was going to tell you that exactly 4 years ago my wife… well…" he couldn't continue, a sadness progressively evident on his face.

"Did she die?" Meredith asked sadly, walking closer to Derek so if he felt the need to collapse then he could. Granted, it would crush her but at least she'll be helping him in some way.

"No, she didn't die. In fact, horrible as it is to think," Derek said slowly, "It would probably easier on us all if she had died. We're here to visit her memorial stone. Basically, we don't know if she's dead or alive or dying or…"

Derek again stopped, finding it hard to talk about the thing that had haunted his family since she went. Since she disappeared. He felt an arm steal the gap between his arm and his body and guide him to a nearby bench.

"My wife was called Addison. I met her thirteen years ago. We rushed into marriage and had a child within the first year of knwoing each other. It's not that we regretted it because we were in love, madly, deeply, forever in love." Derek had had fourteen councillors and therapists in the last four years and they had not received one piece of information about any aspect of his life. This was the first time he had opened up to anyone about it. It felt right, comfortable. As he looked into Meredith's eyes, he knew there was no going back, and neither did he want to.

"Did you only have the one kid?" Meredith asked quietly, not wanting to pry.

"Ha, no," Derek said quickly, laughing at the times when Addi and himself had discussed having a family of at least ten kids. "We had Emily, the eldest, then Alex, then the triplets. It pains me that my kids don't have a mother figure in their life. It's just been so hard to be a single dad, I mean grieving and moving on was not an option and never has been really. Without Addison, I was lost, madly, deeply, forever lost." A single tear fell down his face as he recalled the times he had spent with his wonderful wife. He was almost bitter thinking about it, knowing he would never experience Addi again, never waking up to her scent, never being welcomed home by the familiar smell of her home-baked cookies for the kids.

Meredith saw the tears falling from his face, even though he tried to stop them. He had not had much physical contact with a woman since Addison, and if he had it would have been forced and not of his will. Meredith's arm reached round to his face that was turned away from her. She hooked her hand under his chin and bought his head softly round so it was facing her. The eye connection was alive again, and he looked back into the passionate firey eyes of a loving woman. She was everything that Addison wasn't, yet it didn't stand in the way of his heart pulse increasing at the mere skin connection. She smiled, silently urging him to continue.

"It was a Wednesday morning, I had woken up to the triplets sleeping next to me, no Addison. I went downstairs, and she wasn't there. Rang her cell, she'd left it in the kitchen. Rang anyone I could think of and no-one had heard from her. No-one at work, friends, family. She had disappeared off the face of the planet. The police searched for her for a month solid, and ever since have kept a look out but after a year, they told me it was unlikely we'd ever find her. The triplets had just turned one," Derek said quietly through the tears. "How do you tell your kids that their mother is somewhere out there but they'll never see her again?"

Meredith didn't respond with a vocal answer, she simply placed her hand on his back and grasped his hand, giving him the support he needed. He looked down to the ground and leant over in his seat, not letting go of her hand but not wanting to see him cry. He rested his elbows on his knees whilst Meredith remained in her upright position, not knowing how else to help. She gently rested her head on his muscular back, moving her hand to his shoulder furthest away from her. All he needed to do was cry, let it out and she let him.

After five minutes, a girl of about five years broke the silence of tears. She delicately moved towards the couple on the bench and stood directly in front of Derek. Meredith sat upright, watching the girl with curiousity, but never letting go of Derek's hand. The little girl crouched down slowly, slightly bending her knees and looked up to Derek's face in the same way that children look under tables during hide and seek.

"Daddy," She said with worry and guilt in her voice, assuming the crying had been about something she had done. "Did I do something wrong?"

Tears started to fill the little girl's eyes as Derek began to sit up, still holding onto Meredith's hand. With his free hand, he wiped away the tears that had fallen.

"Of course you didn't do anything wrong baby," Derek said softly.

The girl moved closer to the bench and bravely climbed up her father's leg and onto his lap. She seemed satisfied that the crying had nothing to do with her and reached up to Derek's neck and wrapped her tiny arms around in a hug. Derek's free arm enveloped the tiny frame of his daughter and he looked over to Meredith who was smiling at the two with nothing but love. She couldn't help the feeling of warmth at the sight. She had never been a family person but looking at such a sight she wanted everything for them, the perfect christmas, the perfect picket fence house, home cooking, bedtime stories.

"Hey Lou, I want you to meet someone," Derek said to the girl who retreated from the hug. "This is Meredith."

Lou smiled gently, shyly waving as she tilted her head into the nook of Derek's neck. He looked down at her and threw an apologetic smile in Meredith's direction for his daughter's wary greeting.

"Hey Lou," Meredith said, brightly. She was glad that the child had moved them away from the subject of Addison and the disappearance.

"She's one of the triplets, the youngest in fact," Derek explained to Meredith.

Lou let herself go limp as she slid off her father's lap and stood in front of Meredith. She was dressed in a red, knee-length, velvet dress that had a flower pattern at the bottom. The dress was covered partially by the long black dress she had on. She also had a matching black beret, covering the top of her auburn hair. The tints of red in the curly locks were illuminated by the sunlight and the red in the dress and her pale skin was apparent in the brisk air. The look of a perfect little girl was completed with white tights covering her legs and plain red shoes which matched the dress.

Lou put her hands behind her back, tilted her head to the left and bent her left leg, wrapping her left foot behind the other. Her eyes wondered up to the skies and then back to Meredith, a grin appearing on her face, lighting her piercing blue eyes that she had evidently inherited from her father.

A little boy, a spitting image of Derek, ran up behind Lou and rolled his eyes and started to mimick the movements that Lou was displaying. Meredith looked over at Derek who moved his free hand round to the back of his head and took a deep breath inwards, looking away in amusement.

"Lou, I think she gets it, you're cute," the little boy quipped, making himself known to Lou. Lou just smiled in response and went to sit next to Meredith on the bench, still not having spoken a word to her.

"Meredith, meet Jacob," Derek introduced the little boy to Meredith.

"Hey," he said quickly, "Can we go to the park now?"

Derek laughed, "Sure, go get the others and we'll head on out."

Meredith and Derek watched Jacob run off in the same direction he had approached. Lou was still sat next to Meredith, swinging her legs freely that needed a good five years of growth to reach the ground below.

"You coming?" Derek questioned. Meredith smiled nervously in answer. He finally let go of Meredith's hand and immediately missed it.

"I don't know if I should. You should really be spending time together, you don't need me to intrude," Meredith said. As she said this, Meredith felt something tugging at her jacket arm. She looked down to see the eyes of Derek on a five-year-old, silently asking her to agree to the trip.

Derek stood up and Meredith followed the action. Lou remained sitting, still swinging her legs. After realizing she wasn't following, the the two adults turned around and saw Lou's stubbornness shining. Derek rolled his eyes and went over to pick her up. Lou refused his arms of welcome and crossed her own. He looked confused at his daughter and she looked past him and directly at Meredith who had just stopped in her tracks at Derek's side. Lou held her arms up to her, asking to be picked up by her. Meredith couldn't say no and picked her up, noticing how light she was.

"You ready to meet the whole troupe?" Derek laughed, just as nervous as he guessed Meredith was.

"OK," Meredith said, looking across to Lou in her arms. She threw Meredith her toothy grin and wrapped her arms and legs tighter around Meredith's body.

**Introduction to some of the family, there is more... This was actually meant to be a really sad and heart-wrenching chapter but then i got carried away with the description of Lou and was listening to Come Fly with Me, and didn't feel sad or heart-wrenching, hence most of the fluff. lol, tell me what you thought of the overall idea and chapter...**

**THANKS TO: razzy1551, Lou (hope you like the character!! reminds me of some lil cutie i know!! and HA at the review!), TCF (thanks, i really dont like her mother in the show!!), newcomers: Sarah, kml57, JainaZekk621, Greys has become my life (i love new reviewers!! and your comments are gorgeous!), Absent Heart, CJ (and em kinda!), McLoving Greys.**

**Hope the chapter wasn't what you expected!!**


	6. Meeting the Troupe

**Sorry for the lack of update- i've been forbidden from a computer because of issues but all is resolved! This continues from the last chapter...**

Meredith and Derek set off to the exit of the cemetery with Lou being held and Jacob running to find the other three. All Meredith could think about was the amount of children Derek had and yet he seemed like such a relaxed, care-free guy. If she had five kids, she wouldn't look nearly as good as Derek, would not have time to wash or eat or do anything. How in the hell did he cope?

Meredith, although she had no clue at that point, was about to meet the answer to that question and it appeared in the form of a twelve year old girl. She walked over holding the hand of a girl who looked very similar to Lou who was still sat very comfortably on Meredith's hip. Jacob was running behind them with a boy who she guessed had to be Alex.

"Meredith," Derek said to her, seeing her look at them with curiousity, "These are my kids."

He had said it with a mixture of pride and dread if that were even possible. The four children advanced towards Meredith and finally came to a stop in front of her. They formed a line unconsciously and Meredith could immediately picture what Addison looked like from putting three and two kids together.

"Oh my God," who Meredith had assumed was Alex said. "You're Meredith Grey… Hey, I'm Alex"

He held out his hand like a true gentleman and Meredith just smiled and shook the tiny child-sized hand. Out of an audition, an interview, a photoshoot, a call-back, performing on stage and meeting these four children, these four children were the most terrifying.

"Hi," The eldest said, "I'm Emily." She hadn't said it in a threatening manner or rudely, she just wasn't the most inviting kid and Meredith could understand that after all she had been through. She was probably the only one out of all five kids that knew exactly what was going on and what had happened with their mother.

"Hi," Meredith replied, "I'm Meredith."

Emily simply smiled and Meredith immediately recognized the expression that belonged to her father.

"Can I call you Mer?" Jacob's voice came out of nowhere. Apparently he got easily bored with conversations that he wasn't involved in.

"Errrr," Meredith stuttered, "Yeah, sure…"

"Jake," Derek cut in, seeing Meredith a little uncomfortable, "Don't interrupt a conversation. And call her Meredith like everyone else."

"No Derek, it's fine, really."

Derek leaned over and whispered in Meredith's ear.

"Don't let them see you giving in!"

Meredith's eyes began to close as she felt his warm breath tickle the hairs on her neck. She suddenly opened them, very aware of five children watching her.

"So, let me just clarify this," Meredith said brightly, "Emily, Alex, Jacob and Lou."

She had pointed at each child whilst saying their name and tickled Lou at the last name as she squirmed in her arms, giggling.

"You forgot one," Jacob said, rolling his eyes, probably used to the drill of introducing so many kids.

"And who would that be?" Meredith asked. Derek took over from Jacob before he could even ask.

"That would be my special little Princess Maya down here," Derek said, advancing towards Maya, as she smiled mischievously. After bending down to her height, Derek stood straight back up again, swirling Maya in the air during the process and letting her come to rest on his hip. Meredith noticed Emily's gaze of longing at her father at that point, like she somehow wanted to be in Maya's position even though she couldn't. Meredith brushed it aside for some other time though.

"Hi Maya," Meredith said to the child who was now taller than her considering the height of Derek's hip and the length of Maya's torso.

Like Lou, Maya was apparently shy and didn't answer with anything but a smile.

"OK, now introductions are over with, let's go to the park," Derek said and listened for the expected whoops and cheers coming from most his childrens' mouths. Emily, however, did not look as pleased.

They had been at the park for at least an hour now but Meredith couldn't have asked for more fun. She didn't really have the family life growing up with her mother being obssessed with her job and her father leaving when she was young. In fact, Meredith's memories consisted more of nannies and babysitters than of her parents.

She was currently sat underneath a tree watching Derek on one side of a sea-saw and the triplets on the other half. All four were laughing and to an onlooker it would seem they had no cares in the world. Not a worry. Derek's fatherhood position could not make him anymore gorgeous if he tried. She had never met a father who was so in love with his kids. It made him seem more genuine and accessible which Meredith had not expected.

Emily was sat on a swing, gently rocking backwards and forwards. Compared to the other 12-year-olds that Meredith had met, Emily seemed miserable and depressed. After knowing her for over an hour, she had realized something was up but did Derek see it?

Alex walked over and sat down next to Meredith under the tree.

"How come you're here? I mean no offence but you're Meredith Grey and you're hanging out with our family. How did that happen?" he said, looking to Meredith for all the answers.

"Well, I had a car accident, you're dad was the one who was treating me, then I bumped into him at the grocery store, then at the book store and then at the cemetery," Meredith recalled all the places they had randomly collided.

"What's that word where people are supposed to be in the same place at the same time for a reason?" Alex said, wise beyond his years and Meredith not knowing if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Fate?"

"Yeah," Alex exclaimed. Meredith laughed in response. "Can I tell my friends that we hung out at the park?"

For someone so intelligent, he sure was sweet and innocent.

"Sure, but will they believe you?" Meredith asked.

"We should get a camera," Alex said, he was a random child but always spoke his mind, making him very easy to talk to for an eight-year-old.

"Well, it just so happens," Meredith said, rummaging around in her bag, "That I have one somewhere in here… HERE!"

She handed the camera over to Alex and he worked out how to use it in a second. Meredith had been struggling with the thing for over a week to get it to take one picture of her with Christina and hadn't even managed to turn it on but she wasn't going to let Alex know that. He held the camera up in the air and turned it round whilst Meredith swung an arm round him. Both smiled and acted up for the camera, frowning and giggling all for different shots of the moment.

"I can load them onto my computer if you want," Alex said.

"That would be great," Meredith didn't complain soon as she didn't have a clue how to work that thing either.

Alex had the swooping locks of Derek and like the triplets, the piercing blue eyes that cut to the soul of any human. Although Jacob was a spitting image of Derek, Alex wasn't far off. He had been dressed in a suit for what she assumed was mourning but he was now reduced to a shirt and trousers, the brisk air having become warmer with the encouragement from the sun. His smile was a perfect demonstration of Dereks, but his nose was slightly less round and his face was a lot longer and this, Meredith assumed, he got from his mother. He was a good looking kid to say the least but how could he not be, being the son of such a beau as Derek.

"You should come back to our house for dinner, we're having Dad's spaghetti bolognaise," Alex invited.

"Shouldn't you ask your dad before asking me to dinner," Meredith said, not wanting to intrude on what looked to be a great family. Knowing her, she'd ruin it.

"He says it's fine," Derek's voice shocked Meredith and she looked up to see him standing right in front of her and Alex.

Meredith looked over to where Emily was sat on the swings and was now being harrassed by the triplets. The triplets obviously looked up to her and Meredith guessed she was used to it. Emily, however, needed a woman figure in her life of her own and it was blatent. What was Meredith getting herself into?

Later at the house, they were all sat round the lounge after being filled with a delicious Italian dish. They were playing a game of sharades and it was Maya and Lou's turn, they decided that they were too young to go seperately so consequently had formed a team.

The two made an action with their hands causing an outburst from Jacob.

"FILM," Jacob shouted, "It's my go!"

"That's not quite how the game works Jake, you have to guess which film they're acting," Derek explaned. Jacob looked over to his father as he was kneeling anxiously next to the coffee table in the center of the room, desperate to have his go.

Lou and Maya held up 3 fingers each.

"Six words?" Emily said.

Maya rolled her eyes at her younger sister, acting as though she was at least a year younger, not a minute. She reached over and lowered two of Lou's fingers and one of her own.

"Three words!" Alex exclaimed.

Maya nodded. All of Derek's children were incredibly bright as Meredith had come to realize after spending a day with them. Emily was more mature than Christina, Alex was more of a smooth talker than Meredith's ex-boyfriend and the triplets combined could brighten anyone's day with comedy and cuteness. Meredith looked over at Derek who caught her eye and smiled back. She wondered how often it was that he bought women back to the house. She felt herself blush under his stare and the more she wanted to look away, the more they drew her in. She broke the eye contact, reluctantly, and looked back to Maya and Lou.

"The Jungle Book," Alex shouted, a tad over-excited with the game. He had said it in response to the girl's acting like monkeys, pulling their ears out and blowing out their cheeks.

"King Kong!" Jacob replied to the girl's shaking of heads. Again they shook their heads as Maya made it abundantly clear it was three words with her fingers.

Derek, who was laying down on one side, leaning his head on his hand and elbow against the floor, rolled onto his back laughing at the actions that were commencing in the room. The girl's had started climbing on the sofas and running round the room giggling and making Jacob join in on the efforts. Maya managed to race all the way round to where Meredith was leaning her back against the sofa and wrapped her tiny arms around her neck, tickling it delicately with her fingers. Meredith started giggling very loudly at the feel of it and reached up behind her to bring the little girl onto her lap. Once there she started tickling her back, with her brown wavy hair being tousled as she squirmed under Meredith's relentless tickling. Derek would have saved Maya had it not been for Jacob and Lou both climbing on him and pinning him down to the ground. He could have easily broken free but was playing along. Maya managed to get away from Meredith's arms and run in front of the rabble, holding out her hands in the air.

"STOP!" She yelled, though still slightly giggling herself. Everyone stopped in their tracks.

Alex was sat on Derek's feet, Lou was sat on his arm and Jacob was sat on the other one. Meredith was midway on her tracks to reach Maya to tickle her again and was hunched over to her height making it an incredibly uncomfortable position to freeze in. Emily had somehow managed to stay in her original position, simply laughing at the insanity.

"Did you get it?" Maya queried.

"What was it?" Derek asked.

"The Lion King, duh," Lou said, still laughing.

"OK," Jacob said, ready for an argument, "How is that lions? You were acting like monkeys."

"There are monkeys in the film," Maya said, innocently looking down at her siblings. Lou climbed off Derek and stood next to her sister, getting into the position the family had nicknamed "Diddums". Her arms wrapped around her back, the look was on her face and her weight was transferred onto one side as she swung from side to side.

"We're sorry," She said, tears welling in her eyes.

"Is she always that good?" Meredith asked Emily.

"You better believe it," She replied, "She once destroyed a new sofa with red paint and got away with it cos she pulled that act on dad!"

"Wow," Meredith said. Emily raised her eyebrows and widened her eyes as if she was used to it.

"OK, it's late guys," Derek announced. "Bedtime!"

He said it with enthusiasm but it was met with sighs and various "ohhhh's" and "noooo's". All five kids made their way to the winding stairway in the hall. Derek didn't move but simply stared at Meredith who was now fully stood. She looked down and smiled.

"You sticking around?" He asked, not wanting the company to go.

"If you want me to," She said, not wanting to overstay her welcome.

"Help me put the kids to bed and I'll do anything for you," he replied desperately. He hated the bedtime routine. He was awful at it. Emily usually helped enormous amounts but he knew he shouldn't put such responsibility on a young girl.

"Anything?" She asked, smiling.

He grinned back, not sure whether to regret making that promise or not.

**Thank you to all the gorgeous reviewers who made my day when i last updated. Please feel free to do so again and of possible i'll love you even more... couple of things..**

**1) Comment on if there is too much fluff its sickening!**

**2) There will be more Merder in the next chapter considering the last line but how much do you want? How far should it go?**

**3) Should i come up with a plot cos there isnt a lot of one in this chapter!! Got any ideas? Not about Addi or characters but how fast do you think Meredith should be accepted in the family?**

**I LOVE:**

**kml57, McLoving Grey's (So am i!!), Emelie, gatorgonewild, Absent Heart (we all want a lil mcdreamy!!), DORKY GiiiRL, Sarah, CJ, TCF, Valya, Endzi, Dilly0702, Lou... all the regular darlings and the newcoming reviews, you're all treats!!!**

**xxx**

**(i really have to cut these author notes down!!!)**


	7. Left Wanting More

**ARRGH!! i love writing this fiction and i know i promised loads of merder but i got carried away with the Emily situation cos you guys gave me loads of ideas... thanks!! lots of merder in this chapter but entirely merder next chapter- PROMISE!!**

**Like to thank these guys for the hilarity they bought to the reviews: gatorgonewild, CJ, elisaday16 (aw! thanks!!), 2SeXy4MYsCRUbS (wow- long and insightful there!), MerDer, DORKY GiiiRL, Lou (rolls eyes you would think Lou is cute!), FrancisMc23 (hope for a kiss still!), SoInLuv, mary, merder100...**

**I'd like to thank these people for the magical ideas and sweetness they filled me with when reading their reviews: reader, DeathDealer210912, JuliaA, f4fan90, DrMcLovely (your name says it all! ta hun), Endzi (ta for the help!), bones-is-love, Ciaobella06 (aww, thanks, i like to think refreshing is good!), Absent Heart, funky-monkey-93, kml57, TCF and JainaZekk621.**

After finishing her drink of lemonade, Meredith went to put the glass back in the kitchen. It was then that Meredith started to get an idea of how big Derek's house was. She wasn't shocked, him being a surgeon and earning what she guessed was a lot, and neither did it take her back as she was used to the big-house lifestyle but she did wonder how far it went. From her position in the kitchen, there was an archway to her left that led to the dining room and onto the lounge where she had previously been. Behind her was an archway leading to the hallway and onto the stairs, lounge and front door. In front of her was an archway leading to what looked like four more rooms and then the back door and to her right there were two more rooms lapping round to hall again.

"Wow," Meredith said in awe. She thought she had seen some big houses but this was bigger than anything she had ever owned. Then again, she didn't have five children or the guts to buy anything bigger than her swanky bachelorette pad!

Emily appeared in the kitchen beside her with soaking wet hair that had caused the red to turn to brown. The slight curls were evident but at that precise moment she was looking in the mirror and trying to brush them out.

"You should leave it to dry naturally, it's better for your hair," Meredith said, giving some tips she had learnt in her life time.

"Yeah right, and frizz is good for my hair?" Emily replied, becoming increasingly annoyed with the random pieces of frizzy red hair sticking out here and there.

"Why don't you plait it, then it stops the frizz and makes your hair wavy?" Meredith said, finally being able to talk to Emily about something.

"I don't know how to plait," Emily said softly, "My dad doesn't have a clue."

"Well, it just so happens you're in the same room as a plaiting prodigy," Meredith smiled.

Emily looked back with hope. She pulled up a chair and sat down, facing her back to Meredith. Meredith gently brushed the long gorgeous locks of red hair that had to have been inherited from her mother. She parted the hair in two and then started a french plait on one side.

"Do you not like your hair curly?" Meredith asked.

"I don't know. I've never really had it done in a particular way, it's normally just thrown back into a ponytail cos that's all my dad could do," Emily said sadly.

"Well, it's time that all changed. LOU, MAYA!" Meredith called upstairs.

Both girl's came charging down the stairs and scrabbled their way into the kitchen, wearing all-in-one Winnie the Pooh PJ's. They both looked curiously at what Meredith was doing and stood very quietly in amazement. After finishing the second side of Emily's hair, Meredith held up a mirror into the other one so Emily could see the result. For the first time since they had met, Meredith saw a genuine smile emerge onto Emily's face.

"Thanks," she said shyly.

"No problem!" Meredith responded, leading Emily off the chair and placing another one next to it. She then lifted both of the tiny girl's onto the chairs, knowing that they'd take forever and a day. "What's you're daddy doing?"

"He's just put Jacob in the bath and then has to put Alex through the same torture," Maya whispered, using words that Meredith didn't learn until she was at least ten.

"Right," Meredith started, putting Emily behind Maya and Lou in front of herself, "First off, divide their hair into three sections."

Emily followed the instructions and divided Maya's wet hair into three, struggling slightly as Maya tended to fidget.

"Next, wrap the strand on the far left over the middle one and under the far right one," Meredith continued.

The instructions kept coming and Emily kept obeying until she was right at the end of Maya's hair length.

"There," Emily stated, grabbing the nearest hairband and wrapping round the pityful amount of hair left at the end of the plait. Emily smiled at her accomplishment and Meredith praised her efforts. Both Lou and Maya went to look in the mirror and not having the capability to see the back of their heads, shrugged their shoulders and said thanks.

As they ran out the door, Derek walked in and looked at the amount of dead hair on the floor and the smile on Emily's face.

"What is going on here?"

"Nothing," Meredith winked in Emily's direction.

"What's with all the hair on the floor," Derek exclaimed, "It looks like you've de-haired my kids Mer!"

"I thought everyone called me Meredith?" She joked, quoting him from earlier in the day.

"Right," Derek said, "Emily it's time for bed."

Emily sighed and dragged her feet out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Are all the kids in bed?" Meredith asked.

"They will be in a second," Derek answered, "Just have to make two bottles of milk for the girls otherwise they won't sleep, and unless you want to deal with that then I better make it."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," Meredith quipped, jumping up onto the work surface next to the sink and letting her hands come to rest on her lap.

"You don't, trust me!" Derek exclaimed, moving over to where Meredith had landed. He opened her knees wider to place himself between them and leant against the work surface. He edged closer to her face, looking deeply into her eyes. He swept his hand up her arm and held her in position as he leant into her neck and plant a soft kiss. Meredith shivered at the contact and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of his skin and the soft stubble on his cheek rub against the smoothness of her neck. He let go of her arm and reached behind her to get the bottles. He slowly backed away smiling, knowing exactly what he was doing. Her eyes continued to be closed until he had completely left all traces of himself on her. No warmth, no contact and no kissing! She wanted him more than ever and she knew he was taunting her, so why not do it back?

They stayed quiet whilst Derek worked his way around the room, putting the milk into the microwave to warm and all the while Meredith simply watched him.

"You coming upstairs to say goodnight to them?" Derek asked.

"Sure, but when does this promise of you doing anything for me come into play?" Meredith asked cheekily.

"As soon as you want it to," Derek smirked.

She followed Derek up the stairs to be greeted by a huge landing which had various toys and scattered bits of clothing like a true family home should. There was one door coming off of the square landing with two corridors branching off either side. She followed him down the one on the left and past a door on the right that had steam rising from underneath it. She thought it was safe to guess it was the bathroom. He entered the next door along on the left and Meredith followed cautiously. She was met by the most amount of pink anyone had ever seen. There were pink toys and curtains and drapes and a small pink chandelier, pink duvet sets on pink beds of which there were two little girls in each. Derek went to Lou's bed and handed her a bottle and she quietly took it and rested her head down on the pillow. Meredith watched Derek as he gave the other one to Maya and kissed her on the forehead, tucking her in so she couldn't move.

Derek signalled for Meredith to do the same to Lou. She crept over, determined not to disturb the stillness and bent down, kissed Lou's sleepy head and tucked her in. She looked at Lou through the dim light and saw her fast asleep already, the milk bottle almost full and a smile on her face.

Both adults crept out and finally had the abililty to talk again.

"They really like you huh?" Derek said.

"I'm a very likable person," Meredith smiled.

"I bet you are," Derek replied, "Ready for some fun?"

"Sure!" She exclaimed. The kids were fun enough but Meredith had been waiting all day to be alone with Derek. She didn't want her relationship with Derek to be his kid's mother.

"Come this way."

He led her to a bedroom that was coming off the main landing and she was taken aback by it's size and beauty. It was perfected down to the last throw and cushion. He sat down on the bed and couldn't stop looking at her. The sexual tension could be cut with a knife as she looked back at him, not wanting the connection to break.

"Is this your room?" Meredith asked.

"Used to be mine and Addi's but I stopped using it and always sleep in the guest room next to the girls," he said it with conviction so it didn't darken the light, flirtatious mood he was in.

He walked into a cupboard and came out with two things in his hands. He threw one of the things at Meredith and she unfolded the piece of clothing to see it was a bathing suit.

"You want me to put this on?" She asked, impressed with his confidence that she would do it. Granted, she was all up for it but she didn't want him to know that.

"That would be the idea," He smiled, "Unless you want to get your clothes very wet."

She passed Derek as he watched her walk around the room, looking for somewhere to change. She found the ensuite and went in. After taking all her clothes off she put the bathing suit on and found it to be rather revealing. Apparently Addison was much more fortunate than herself in the chest department but she was paid to pull things off and she could manage this. It was a red halter-neck suit with no back, it barely covered her butt and there was a plunging neckline, revealing her flat stomach. It gave an idea of how petite Meredith was under the clothing she wore. She adjusted the suit to fit, took her hair down which she had put up earlier in preperation for charades and fluffed it up to make her look that smidgen more irresistible.

She walked out of the bathroom to see Derek in swimming trunks and nothing more. She flew her eyes across the dips and curves of every muscle in his back and had to literally step back from preventing herself from attacking him. He turned around realizing he was being watched and the sight of her caused a sharp inhale.

"Wooo… I… well… I… jus… buh…" He couldn't form a sentence at that present moment and she smiled in her acheivement. They both caught the infamous eye contact that had kept them going throughout the day but now she needed more and she knew exactly how to get it.

"So, this thing about you doing anything for me if I stayed…" Meredith paced over to him, being careful not to touch him. She stopped in front of him, not laying a single hand on him but wanting to melt chocolate on the sculpted shapes that had formed on his chest due to exercise.

"I'm just going to ask you to be reasonable," He grimanced, knowing that she was the type of person to have a devilish side.

"Where's the pool?" She asked, nearing her face to his and breathing heavily.

"In the out-house, but there's a hot-tub downstairs," he said, distracted by the feeling her breath on his neck and his face inching closer to her. He moved his arm around to her hip in an attempt to get even closer to her but she backed away at the last minute.

"Hot tub it is then," she whispered, twisting herself round in his attempted embrace and brushing her hair against his shoulder. He lowered his head in desperation and noticed the back of her body and the smooth curves that everyone woman should have. He moved her hair out of the way to kiss her neck, back, ear, anything but she walked away, out of the room and leaving him wanting more.

He followed her, pressing a button on a control button on the way out. Meredith made her way down the staircase and waited for him to show her the way. He reached Meredith at the bottom of the stairs and held out his hand for her to take which she refused. He looked slightly confused but was too anxious to care about a little hand contact.

He passed through the kitchen and went towards the back door, checking Meredith was following. Meredith could not take her eyes off his back. She always had a thing for backs- Orlando had a good one, as well as Jake, Heath, Brad, Jude- but Derek's was just perfection. All the soft muscle definition and curves in all the right spots. Perfect.

Just before reaching the back door, Derek opened the door to the left. He entered it and was met with a scent of flower. He wasn't sure which one as he didn't set the hot-tub settings but it definitely added to the mood, he dimmed the lights and the steam from the hot-tub that he had turned on in his room started to rise. Meredith walked in behind him and managed to survey the room in minimal amount of time to keep one eye on Derek's body. She was still impressed with it.

The room had a complete glass wall looking out onto the garden which she couldn't see the end of and the tiles in the room covered the floor and walls in a light blue shade. The hot-tub itself was a dark blue and looked to fit about twelve people in. She gently lowered herself into the warmth after Derek and smiled in his direction. He sat in his usual seat and sprawled his arms out along the side of the tub.

"So, what can I do for you?" He asked.

"Just sit there, and don't touch," she teased. He had not expected that one.

**Oooooo, so close to the good bit... trust me i so wanted to continue writing but it was already like 2000 and something words.. thought i'd leave you guys wanting more as well :P**

**YAY!! i hope i gave you all a mention cos you deserve to be on my list of love for reviewing!!! I have a plot forming in my head and need a mans name cos i'm rubbish at thinking names up. Got any ideas and the name cant be anyone from the show or something predictable!! you're all creative beings, i'm sure you'll come up with something goood!**

**MWAHxXxXxXx**


	8. Interruptions

**OK, if you're slightly sensitive to sexual scenes then look away but its really not that bad at all! Not even in the slightest to be fair.. i'd let a ten year old read it! mind you, im not the most responsible person... enough rambling! Here you go...**

He saw Meredith push herself under the water, against the bubbles that had started to shoot up from the depths, on the far side of the hot-tub and then felt the water move around him as she emerged in front of him and straddled him, each knee going either side of his legs. Derek continued to watch her with a sense of urgency and desire as she reached behind him to retreive something. She leant forward and on orders, he leant back further against the tub so as not to touch her, instead receiving a sight of Meredith's body in closer focus. The swimming suit did not leave a lot to the imagination which was fortunate for Derek as he caught a glimmer of what was to come and the tension rose as he had what he wanted directly in sight.

She came back to rest on her knees, not once placing a single ounce of weight against him and began to rub the contents of the bottle into her hands. She then looked towards Derek and the mischievous glint in her eye made him regret promising anything to her.

The bare skin that enveloped Meredith's tiny frame began to be smothered in some sort of shower gel that smelt like a different flower scent that covered the room. He felt his heart pump blood significantly faster to a particular area of his body as her hands started massaging her neck and worked their way down her shoulders, chest, arms, down to the tip of her fingers. He wanted to be the one rubbing the gel onto her skin and he closed his eyes in frustration as she smiled at his anxiety to touch her.

"Now now Derek," Meredith said in a sensual manner, keeping her voice low, "You were the one who promised me anything."

"Yeah," Derek replied in a high-pitched whimper, "Did I mention that promise only lasts for five minutes?"

Meredith laughed, "Funnily enough you left that part out."

"This is such torture," he moaned as her hands made their way further down her chest, in between her breasts and down to the toned and flat stomach she flashed in his eye sight.

"This is nothing," she smiled as she leaned forward to his face and balanced herself by placing her hands either side of his shoulders against the hot-tub. She moved her lips so they were practically brushing the hair of his stubble and let out a long deep breath that made him close his eyes again. He moved his arm from the side of the tub and began to stroke the water in a downward movement against Meredith's leg.

She smiled and retaliated by moving her lips to his ear and whispering sweet nothings into it. In revenge, he moved the other arm round and did the same thing with the ruffles of water against her back and down to her pert backside. In reaction to his movements, goosebumps made their way up Meredith's entire body and she couldn't stop smiling. He felt the smile in her voice and grinned himself as neither would withdraw from their position.

She smelt his perfect locks and closed her eyes, getting caught up in the moment, she moved one of her arms from the side of the tub and onto his chest and the second she did it, he forcefully guided her body towards his with his arm that had been close to stroking her back. She was slightly taken aback.

"What happened to no touching?" Meredith asked, her lips that had been so close to his ear began to arouse his senses as they made full contact and began to fervorously move up his face and down to his neck.

"You gave in first, therefore breaking the pact and promise all in one fail swoop," He answered as he concentrated on the feeling he was receiving in his right ear.

He was so not in control of the situation and both of them knew it. He was being completely played by Meredith and he loved it but at some point all the teasing had to end. He held her even closer with his arm, feeling her breasts pressed against his chest and loving the feeling of every inch of her surrounding him. He moved himself away from the edge of the tub and onto the other side so she was the one pressed against the tub.

He ran a hand up her back and into her hair where he pulled her head gently back from his neck where she had been concentrating on. He looked deeply into her eyes and like a sheep, she followed him in whichever direction he took. The deep pools were easy to get lost in for both of them. Her sparkling greeny grey eyes were hard not to look at. It was one of the first things he noticed about her. They leaked joy and life and the more he focused on them, the more happiness he immediately felt. He could feel the tension rising swiftly as the silence took over from the light flirtatious mood they had previously been in.

He slowly leant towards her and closed his eyes as her lips delicately brushed against his. They were soft and he barely felt them through the wild amount of senses that were whirling around his body at the time. He needed some proof that it had happened and traced his lips movement against hers. He felt her deepen the kiss and move her arms around his neck, bringing her body ever closer to his, he could feel her heartbeat beating his chest. He felt her tongue begging entry into his mouth and he granted the wish willingly.

He felt the senses within his mouth awaken in a second at the contact of Meredith's tongue and the taste of her was unbearably good. Everything else in the room disappeared. Everything, the bubbles, the colours, the smells, it was just her. The feeling of her so close to himself, the feeling of her tongue running along his own, lips pressed firmly with his retaliating at a rate of knotts.

The door to the hot-tub room slammed and Derek's face snapped up at the sight of his daughter. Meredith's head lowered to the tub's side in disappointement of the interruption. It was so close to getting good.

**It was just getting good right?! Lol, OK, here comes my usual ramblings which im sure you all "love"! I've never written a hot sex scene so i didnt want to seem like a wannabe so didnt go into too much depth but if you think i did good and wanted to be in Meredith's position (who wouldnt!) then tell me and later i'll write a bit more in depth and maybe a bit further!**

**Thanks to the following (i seriously _LOVE_ you guys!)**

**kml57- Nice names! Sepcially Josh- glad you liked chapter 7... karensmith- that was the aim, just to proove mer is not always a skank with children!... Absent heart- THANK YOU SO MUCH for the compliment! lol, love the name Rafe... dirtymistressXxX- glad u looked and liked!... Katie- mer/mark is good but merder kicks ass! thanks for reading and reviewing... McFrancis23- yay your back!! lol, the list of backs could have gone on for a mile!!... IluvMerDer- thank you my dear... Lou- lol, thanks babe, i'll teach you one day, they're easy as!... jellybelly12- love your name! and thanks... Mrs.Dr.DerekShepherd- hope you liked the rest of the events in the hot tub, if only it had just continued a bit more!... lollypopgal- thanks so much... JainaZekk621- thanks so much darling... Strawberry Cherrios- LOL, totally know what your saying, we'll see with addison being it or not but something kinda happened with Merder... bones-is-love- thanks and your welcome for the mention, you deserve it! Recommend away!... Endzi- Delroy is an ace name, BUT reminds me of Delboy froma british TV show lol... Dilly0702- I love landan, never heard it, thanks!... ilovemerder4ever- thanks, continue to review cos i love it!... 2SeXy4MYsCRUbS- you win the quote of all the reviews i have ever had in my life- "derek is a dirrty daddy" - GENIUS!! lol, might use it at some point and credit you!... Lana- fab names thanks!... Ciaobella06- it was mean wasnt it! this one wasnt much nicer!! thanks for reviewing... IslandGurl90- WOW that is one heck of a big review!! i've missed your reviews! LOL, it was well worth the read though!! thanks... Kilikina1- thanks very much and hope you liked this chapter... CJ- I KNOW ABOUT THE EMAIL THING! it didnt send me any notice about all these gorgeous reviews til today! thanks for the names, they're awesome!!**

**OK, sorry if you really had to scan through that to find your name but i thought thanks to the fabulous reviews this time i'd give you all some response cos it really did make me happy! so happy!! You shall all see soon enough why i need a mans name! This may seem like a really short chapter but i assure you its still over 1000 words but compared to my others it is quite short.. next chapter will be longer!**


	9. There are TWO seven o'clocks in a day?

Maya looked down at the couple in the hot tub with disapproving, tired eyes. She was slightly confused to see Meredith still at their house, having completely forgotten that she had been there when she'd fallen asleep. She seemed to ignore the whole situation as well as the guilty, embarrassed expressions on the adults' faces. If there was ever a bigger mood-killer, it would be a child entering at a crucial time of a parent's life and faultlessly ruining it.

"I can't sleep," Maya moaned, having been awake for the whole of two minutes and gotten bored with her bedroom ceiling.

"Oh really?" Derek answered, slowly and smoothly disentangling himself from Meredith's body. She smiled at his coyness.

Maya nodded her head and yawned and watched both Meredith and Derek climb out the hot tub and drip their way to the towels.

"Were you two swimming?" Maya asked with such an innocence that neither adult could crush it.

"Yep," Derek quickly replied, "That is exactly what we were doing."

He winked at Meredith as he said this and saw her adjusting her swimsuit for appropriate eyes.

"You know, you should have really waited for us kids to wake up in the morning before doing that?"

"I know Maya but sometimes I like to swim with people other than my kids," Derek said, drying himself off with a towel watching Meredith do the same. Oblivious to the fact that she was being watched, she threw her soaking wet long waves over her shoulder and ran the towel down her smooth long legs, drying them along the way. He leant his head to the side, mimicking the direction of the towel. She was unaware of the torture she was putting him through.

"But why?" Maya challenged, taking Derek out of the trance Meredith had set.

"Because I like to swim with Meredith," Derek honestly answered.

"But why?" Maya immediately asked.

"Because, I know people other than you guys!" Derek joked.

"Why?" Came the quick question again.

"Because, I have friends."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm social."

"Why?"

"Because, that's how I was raised."

"Why?"

Meredith could see the pattern emerging and could see the way Maya was completely playing her father. She decided to take control over the situation. She wrapped her towel around her body and tied it tightly so it wouldn't slip down.

"Why do you think he was raised like that Maya?" Meredith turned the question round on her and in the little girl's confusion, was whisked up into Meredith's arms and held on the hip. Meredith walked through the house, up the stairs with a silent Maya who was still trying to figure out the answer.

"Because his mummy wanted him to have friends?" She asked, becoming increasingly sleepy as she was rocked by the movement of Meredith's body.

"Exactly," Meredith whispered as she placed the child back on the bed and by the time the covers embraced the tiny frame of Maya, she had fallen completely asleep.

Meredith went back downstairs and was met with a wet Derek in the kitchen. Both nervously looked at one another and simultaneously started to laugh. Neither knew why but it had come to the point in the night where all they could do was laugh. After the giggling subsided, Derek took Meredith's arm and led her upstairs into the room where she had changed. She saw the crumpled jeans of Derek on the floor and turned around to see Derek walking over to pick them up. He noticed Meredith shiver and put the jeans away in the cupboard and came back out with a small t-shirt and two pairs of sloppy-joes.

"Are you OCD?" She asked curiously, looking around at the immaculate room.

"You can't have OCD when my kids are around. They're a mess, hence I like the bedroom tidy. The one place they cannot ruin, however hard they try," he said, throwing the set of pj's over to Meredith for her to change. She skillfully did so without revealing much more than Derek had already seen, much to his disappointment. Whilst she was facing the other way, Derek- as a man with no self-concious issues- simply stripped and put the sloppy-joes on, tieing the string around his waist.

She collapsed onto the bed and saw Derek do the same on the opposite side. Her feet lay by his head on a pillow as she scuffled her way under the covers in search of warmth. He threw a pillow down to the foot-end of the bed to make her head more comfortable and also joined the warmth of the covers.

"Do you know the last time I woke up in this bed was the morning she went missing? The last time I used this bed was with her," Derek contemplated out loud.

"Do you love her and miss her?" Meredith said.

"Well, at some point I started to realize she was not coming back, and gained control over my emotions for my kids sake but it took a good amount of time which I think probably put Emily into the parental role," Derek answered.

"You notice that she is not happy when the triplets bug her for something that you should be giving them?"

"Yeah," Derek said, needing the wake-up call. "I know she wants to be the older sister instead of the mother but that's going to take time and routine for the triplets to come to me for those sorts of things instead of Emily."

"Well, maybe everything happens for a reason. For instance, the fact that I was in the accident that you happened to be passing and the fact that you were a doctor to help," Meredith copied the explanation of fate she had received earlier on in the day from Alex.

"Fate?" Derek questioned, looking skeptic.

"Don't be so pessimistic!" Meredith accused.

"I'm not," Derek answered, "You're just particularly optimistic at this point."

"That's not true," Meredith argued, "My feet are cold and miserable."

"Really?" He said, "My whole body is hot!"

"Is that true?" Meredith asked.

Derek nodded and coiled up in pain as Meredith placed her delicate freezing cold feet on his chest, working their way around his body as he squirmed in protection.

The night that was to come was one full of thoughtful conversations and flirtatious outbursts. It was the night that every couple remembers, the one where they stay up all night and simply talk about anything and everything. Meredith found out the life story of Derek and she opened up to things she had even feared to tell Christina. Throughout the night they had managed to move and change positions a number of times and had come to some sort of agreement in lying in each others arms, Meredith's head leaning against Derek's stomach, his hand across her back and through her hair and the other hand holding Merediths'. Both heads were at the foot-end, Meredith being too stubborn to move too far from her original position to "preserve the heat".

A rude awakening courtesy of Jacob, Maya and Lou came at about seven in the morning. Meredith hadn't even realized there were two seven o'clocks in the day and was deeply disturbed by the occurance. She woke to the sounds of whispering coming from somewhere in the radius of three meters. She opened her eyes to see Derek's face above her completely still and sleeping. She then sat up to see the triplets stood at the side of the bed, each whispering about how to wake the couple up.

"Did you and daddy have a sleep over?" Lou asked, her auburn hair as neat as it was when Meredith had finished with it. Due to lack of experience, Maya's hair done by Emily had fallen out and was a complete mess from sleeping on it wet.

"Yes, we did," Meredith answered quietly, realizing her surroundings and trying not to wake Derek. "Is it a school day?"

"Duh," Jacob said. "It's Monday."

"Does your daddy have to work today?" Meredith asked.

"Nope, he has Moday's off for us cos we finish school early," Maya replied. Each of the triplets blue and sparkling eyes were looking expectedly at her and she decided to take action. She gently lowered herself off the beds to where the triplets were stood and began to guess her way around a school run.

"OK, breakfast?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah!" Jacob ran out the room and Maya followed, chasing him to the kitchen. Lou simply rolled her eyes and held up her arms, strongly hinting Meredith to pick her up. It was easy to tell who was the spoilt youngster.

Once reaching the kitchen and sitting Lou down on a breakfast stool at the island in the middle of the kitchen she stood opposite the five stools and saw two were empty.

"Right then," Meredith felt a sudden sense of responsibility, " What do you guys want for breakfast?"

"Chocolate," Maya shouted excitedly at the choice she was given.

"Sweets," Jacob copied the idea.

"A banana!" Lou, not quite grasping the concept gave the game away.

"Fruit it is," Meredith high-fived the hand that Lou had held out in the air.

Both Jacob and Maya threw the evil eye in Lou's direction and she was completely unaware of it. Meredith returned a minute later with three glasses of orange juice, three bowls and all the cereal boxes she could find in the cupboards. She then placed some milk on the table and left the children to it. She returned a good 15 minutes later, having had trouble waking Alex and Emily who were both reluctant to the day. Both sat down at their stools and saw the destruction the triplets had caused.

"Mer," Alex said, "You left the triplets alone with food didn't you?"

Meredith looked over from her position at the sink and winced at the sight. This was going to be an extremely long morning and she knew exactly who could help.

**ooooo, who could be the perfect person to help??? you get two guesses!!**

**Thank you to my loyal reviewers who i lurve as they know: Lou, TCF, Dilly0702, FrancisMc23, addibella, JainaZekk621, kml57, kilikina1, ILuvMerDer you guys are fabulous and if it weren't for you i would loose the motivation to write.**

**I would also like to send out the lurve to the new people who reviewed cos we always love a bit of fresh blood!- Miss Blair, Kristin, Sarah, Katie, alexandizzie4eva.**

**Sorry it took so long to update and do you know what i want to know? Where's islandgurl90, CJ, 2SeXy4MYsCRUbS, AbsentHeart, Endzi- i miss you guys and your hilarious reviews!! Don't make me hunt you down!!**

**xxx**


	10. Dress to Impress

**Previously on Loveless... Meredith and Derek were getting their freak on but got interrupted by a little person (Maya) and then instead of getting hot and steamy they decided to TALK through the night. They woke in the morning and Meredith had the challenge of the school run ahead of her but needed someone to help...**

"Hello?" A groggy voice answered the ringing that had rudely interrupted the depths of dreaming, and it was a voice that clearly was not used to the idea of an early morning.

"Christina?" Meredith whimpered down the phone.

"Meredith? Where the hell are you?" Christina said worriedly, then continued in a more annoyed tone, "And what ungodly hour is this?"

"I know, did you realize there were two seven o'clocks in a day?" Meredith asked, jokingly, not understanding the scale of annoyance she was causing Christina.

"What is the purpose of this phone call Meredith?"

"Oh right, yeah, well I ended up spending the whole of yesterday with Derek and his kids who turned out to be great, and I'll explain details later as I'm probably in earshot of the little people, but Derek is still asleep and he looks so peaceful and I can't wake him up," Meredith whined after not taking a breath for the duration of the rant.

"So, get a cold, wet flannel and throw it at him. That always works," Christina said, revealing her secret passion for pranks.

"Yeah, I'm thinking no," Meredith quipped. "I just need help cos I need to get his 5 kids to school on a school run."

"Wait, Derek has 5 kids? 5?" Christina paused at the small information leak that Meredith had offered.

"Yeah," Meredith sighed.

"But no wife?" Christina asked curiosity getting the better of her.

"Yeah, like I said I'll explain later but can you come over to his house and help?" Meredith whined again.

She could practically hear the eye roll down the phone.

"Fine, where does he live?" Christina asked.

The front door to the mansion that Meredith had called a house down the phone swiftly opened and Christina was grabbed by a hand to the jacket and thrown inside to the hall. Taken by surprise, Christina looked around at the glamarous house and was struck by it's awe.

"Oh my god," Meredith cried to her friend, dragging her through to the kitchen to observe the mess and the children's state.

"Oh," Christina simply put. She wasn't the most sympathetic person in the world but that's exactly what Meredith needed right now.

"So, what should I do?" Meredith still continued to whine and cry.

"OK, you lot are old enough to get dressed on your own. I want you down here in 5 minutes otherwise all hell will break loose," Christina threatened.

Meredith looked back at the five faces of the children, taking in the orders of Christina. Emily looked unimpressed and scared, Alex looked surprised at the bluntness and scared, Maya looked about ready to cry and scared, Jacob looked scared fullstop and Lou had her 'I'm adorable, look at me' look on her face to let Christina know she was the cute one.

Christina simply clicked her fingers at the stunned faces and all five kids sprinted upstairs to get changed. She smiled at her control and then turned to Meredith.

"You too, go on," She said, smacking Meredith's butt jokingly with a tea-towel as she struggled to get out the kitchen to get dressed. Giggles escaped Meredith's now relaxed body.

Once she had reached the top of the stairs and approached the bedroom that her clothes were still lying in the ensuite, she was met with chaos. It took three attempts to reach the door as Maya, Emily and Alex all cut her off by running in more than one direction at a time if possible. Once she reached the bedroom, she found that Derek had not moved a muscle.

"Typical man," Meredith thought outloud.

She changed into the clothes she had worn the previous day and quietly leant over the bed and placed a gently soft kiss on Derek's forehead. She had known him on a more human level for the whole of a day and could already picture herself doing this morning routine (excluding Christina) every morning for the rest of her life. It was scary to say the least. She delicately ran her hand through his gorgeous locks before leaving the bedroom to join the others in the kicthen. Meredith emerged from the hall an into the kitchen and was shocked to see it cleaner than it was before the children had decided to act out world war 3 on it.

All five children looked to be dressed and ready however, Meredith reminded herself to have a serious fashion talk with some of them. Alex looked as cute and handsome as ever in jeans and a shirt, Emily looked presentable in demin mini-skirt with leggings underneath and a black cardigan over a t-shirt. The triplets however were not doing so well. Maya had found some pink dressing up shoes and paired them up with a bright orange skirt, stripey multi-coloured tights, a red top, pink jacket and a green headband. It was so bad it was almost good. Lou, had decided to simply put on a fancy dress outfit, braving the day in a white fairy costume and Jacob had put on some huge yellow thigh-high boots which Meredith was sure were used to fish, teamed with an extremely loud lime green top.

"This is what you guys want to go to school in?" Meredith asked, laughing.

All three of the triplets nodded enthusiastically. Meredith was impressed with their bravery.

"OK, 5 packed lunches, 5 school bags, 5 pairs of shoes in the hallway and we're ready to go," Christina ticked off her list that was stored in her head. She had grown up looking after her 3 siblings so had some sort of clue about the morning run.

"Are you always this blunt?" Alex asked, being the first out of the five to have the guts to actually talk to Christina.

"Er, well let me just think about that," Christina said, putting a thoughtful face on. "Yep."

"If you're always this serious then you get wrinkles," Lou blurted out innocently whilst climbing off the bar stool to retreive her shoes.

"Thanks, let's go," Christina yelled, bluntly as Alex would say. "In the car, go go go."

"She's like a drill sergeant," Meredith heard whispered amongst the children and smiled at their humour.

"Meredith, here are the keys. Right, no-one has booster seats because Meredith's car doesn't have them or enough seats so the four smallest kids will have to squeeze in the back seat. Go go go," Christina repeated the order of three go's to quiken the pace and boy did it work.

Within a minute, everyone had piled into Meredith's new car and were on their way. Christina smiled at her accomplishment and went back inside to collect her bag. She located her bag in the kitchen, picked it up and was walking towards the door when she bumped into someone at the bottom of the staircase.

"Hi," Derek looked increasingly alarmed. His hair was scruffy and his eyes were tired and he still had the morning stretch routine to carry out.

"Erm, hello?" Christina replied, uneasy. She was stood as a stranger in some random doctors house, who was cute and topless, and none of his kids were in sight. It didn't look like the best situation to wake up to and she could see that in his worried face.

"Do you happen to know where my kids are?" Derek asked, remaining semi-calm.

"They went with Meredith to school," Christina said in a calm and collected manner to keep the hunky man relaxed. Derek nodded.

"I'm Derek," he requested a handshake from Christina who willingly accepted.

"Christina," she answered.

"So Christina, is there a particular reason you're in my house?" He asked, relaxing and presuming she was the friend Meredith had mentioned.

"Well, you were asleep, and Meredith didn't want to wake you," Christina noted the pleased and adorable look that swept across Derek's face at that comment. "So, she called me to help out."

"Oh, I'm surprised you could handle my five kids between the two of you," Derek said, not exactly insulting his kids but more praising them for their everlasting attempts to skip school on a regular basis.

"Well, I managed and Mer did a pretty good job," Christina stood in silence after this statement as not a lot was up for discussion. It was awkward but she'd been in far more awkward moments than this.

"I have to go now, but it was nice to meet you," She told him. "Just a quick warning, be 100 honest with Meredith cos she deserves it. You do one thing out of line and I know where you live."

"Ooo, I'm really scared," Derek mockingly said. "I really like her, I'm not going to do anything to hurt her."

Christina nodded thankfully at Derek and left the mansion.

At 11.30, Meredith returned to Derek's house after dropping the kids off, going home and changing, avoiding Christina's prying questions and doing some grocery shopping. She rang the doorbell and Derek appeared before her in the same outfit she had last seen him, topless. She was not going to complain, neither was she going to complain about the long, passionate kiss she received from the red, scrumptious lips that belonged to him.

"What was that for?" She asked him once the kiss had slowed and their foreheads where the only part of their bodies that remained in contact.

"I missed you," He said.

He grasped her hand and led her through to the kitchen, kissing her along the way. Once in the kitchen, he took the bag of groceries out of her arm and threw them on the table. He grabbed the back of her thighs and picked her up onto the surface as her arms weaved their way through to his back. Meredith closed her eyes in deep concentration at the attention that he was giving her and every nerve in her body was tingling, every sensation alive.

The telephone rang and both ignored it, being too occupied to notice. It rang for a second time, third time, fourth time and on the fifth time, Derek answered the phone breathing deeply after the antics Meredith had just led him through.

"Oh," Meredith heard Derek say. He smiled at the person down the phone and looked over at Meredith who was still perched on the work top, legs and arms wrapped round him.

"We'll be right there," Derek said. He dropped the phone back down to the base and started laughing.

Meredith smiled at his cute giggle but curiously asked what was so funny.

"Well, there were slight problems with the school run this morning," Derek said.

Meredith looked seriously worried. "Uh-oh, what did I do?"

"Not so much what you did do but what Lou didn't do," Derek said. "Did you let them get dressed by themselves?"

"Maybe," Meredith said.

"Yeah, Maya turned up to school with no knickers on, Lou has apparently set a fashion trend in the matter of a few hours and now half the school is walking round with dressing up costumes on and Jacob was unable to take part in sports today as he refused to take his yellow thigh-high boots off," Derek said, still unable to control the laughing which only got worse when he saw the distressed look on Meredith's face.

"You're not angry at me?" Meredith asked.

"Mer, don't be so silly, of course not," Derek said, pecking her on the lips and turning round in his legs, lifting her up from the work surface and giving her a piggy-back to the car.

"You do know you need a top on yeh?" Meredith asked as he was leaving the front door.

He grabbed a sweatshirt from the coat cupbaord and threw it up to Meredith to catch.

"Are you complaining about my topless form?"

"No, but after the state that you're kids turned up to school in today, you don't want anyone getting the idea that you started the eccentric fashion trends."

"Are we ever going to have time alone without interruptions?" Meredith asked.

"Well, soon enough yeah," He answered, pulling into the road that Meredith recognized as her own.

"Why are you taking me home?" She asked.

"I have a doctor's ball party thing tonight at the hospital and I want you to be my date," Derek said. "I'll pick you up at half seven ok?"

"Sure," Meredith left the car with one more kiss from Derek and as she watched him pull away she couldn't help but smile at the wonder he was.

**All hell is about to break loose so enjoy the fluff whilst you can.. trust me!!**

**Please drop me a review in even if its jst "i luv it" or "this sucks". Preferably the first one to be honest but im not god so i cant really influence you that much. Thank you to all who reviewed last time...**

**karensmith, TCF, reader, Lou, JainaZekk621, Em, merbelle007, dilly0702, into.the.fire, Amnesie, aliciums8187, CJ, broadwaychick07, SoInLuv, AbsentHeart, skye3, Endzi, Kilikina1. All of you brightened my day up and i luv ur guys reviews. Some were lovely, others were long and lucious and some were hilarious as per usual. THANK YOU!**

**xxxExxx**


	11. Party Pooper

**I shall now explain the reason that i am the happiest person at the moment... you guys set a new record in all my history of being on FF, i got the most reviews for one chapter... and i didnt even think the chapter was all the great.. shows what i know:S... anyway, on with the story...**

"Hmm," Meredith thought to herself. She was stood in the middle of her walk-in cupboard surrounded by racks and racks of clothes from various events she had been to during her time as a celebrity. She had worn all the outfits at least once but at the most twice and she certainly hadn't paid for the whole wardobe. Just one of the plus sides of stardom. She spotted a red dress in the corner of the rack. She had worn it to the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

"Hmmmm," She repeated her thoughts out loud and grabeed the dress to try on. Meredith zipped the red material up the back and fiddled with the dress until it looked perfect. She kept her hair down in the honey blond waves and hoped they would stay as they were.

Meredith heard the front door bang shut and walked out in her gown for Christina to observe and do what she does best- nit pick.

"Hey, what do you think?" Meredith asked as she made her way through to the kitchen where Christina was getting a drink.

"Great," Christina said, "You've already worn it though."

"Captain obvious strikes again! It's just for a date with Derek tonight," Meredith said.

"Oh, about him," Christina exclaimed, throwing a whole glass of orange juice down her throat as if it were a shot. "Hot as hell but have you seen the papers?"

"No, what about them?"

"Well," Christina threw a paper in Meredith's direction. "Apparently you are having an illicit affair with a married man. The paparrazzi caught you with his family in the park yesterday and did all the research they could over night."

"WHAT?" Meredith screamed. "His wife is missing. Went missing. He's hardly married and I haven't even slept with him. I've known him for much longer than a day too. We met way back when I first got into the car accident, remember?"

"Yeah, you don't have to convince me," Christina replied to her rambling. "So, anyway, I got in contact Martin, who by the way is the worst publicist in the world and you should fire, and he said that you shouldn't do anything but roll with the flow or something. God, he's such a hippy."

"What the hell is Derek going to do?" Meredith's still high-pitched worried voice interrupted Christina. "His kids and private life are all over the papers."

"I don't know but this is spreading pretty quickly and plus the whole mysterious wife thing, the case is being re-opened and investigated and apparently there are some leads that were never followed when they first looked for her so who knows."

"Christina," Meredith whimpered.

"What?" She replied in the same voice she had been using throughout the long process of giving the information to Meredith.

"You do know I could just scream right now yeah?"

"Bet you could," Christina rolled her eyes at Meredith's melancholy. It was her job to have all the pessimistic attitudes and sarcasm, not Merediths. "Just go to this date thing tonight, have hot and passionate sex with him and fill me in when you get back."

"Whatever," Meredith said.

She walked over to her shoe cupboard and picked some matching red ones to the dress and was ready to face the world again.

"Hi," Meredith said as she opened the door to the bell later that night.

She did not receive an answer but simply a mouth drop from Derek. He glanced up and down her frame and did not leave one part of her body without his eyed attention. Since they had met those long seven and a half weeks ago he had never seen her look this stunning. She never failed to impress, that's for sure.

"Woah," He said. "You look gorgeous."

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself," Meredith quipped.

"Ready to go?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, before we do," Meredith said tentatively, "Did you read the papers today?"

"Yeah, don't listen to them Mer," Derek told her relaxed.

"So you don't mind your kids being all over the papers, your wife's story being re-opened and the rumour that we're having an illicit affair?"

"Nope," Derek said shortly. "Why should I?"

"Er, well no cos it's not true but still. You don't have to put up with it and if at any point it gets annoying then I'll be completely ok with you getting back to your own life before I ever entered it and made it that much more interesting," Meredith rambled, still in a cynical mood.

"Just shut up Mer," Derek jokingly said, pulling her in for a long, breath-taking kiss that took her by surprise. Her knees turned into jelly at his sensitive touch and again, every sense in her body was exploding.

"Ready?" He asked once pulling away from her to breathe. Meredith could do nothing but nod.

Derek pulled up outside the hospital that he worked in and that Meredith had been admitted as a patient 7 and a half weeks before.He climbed out his seat and like a true gentleman, hurried round to the passenger side to help Meredith out. She gratefully accepted the hand and help and once out the car, wrapped her arm underneath Derek's, feeling his warmth through the brisk night air.

She threw a smile in his direction and caught his eye as they approached the building. She had a feeling that the spark and life that oozed from their eye contact sessions would never disappear, however long they did it for. The previous night, they had stayed up talking and whenever she looked into the pools, she felt like she was falling. How was it possible she was falling this fast though? She had known him granted, seven and a half weeks ago but only properly known him for a day and a half at the most. She had never experienced the feelings for an guy she had been with. She was convinced that he was her soulmate. As she looked over at Derek in his tux, looking handsome as ever, she braced herself for the evening to come.

"Derek," One man signalled across the room enthusiastically for Derek and Meredith to join him.

"Oh boy," Derek whispered to Meredith. "Prepare yourself."

"Hi Landan," Derek replied once they had skirted in and out of the guests at the party.

"Wow," Landan's mouth dropped. "Aren't you Meredith Grey?"

"Yes," Meredith shyly answered, observing the shocked look on the face of a very muscular man with short brown hair. Cute but clearly gay.

"Oh My God, I can't believe it is you. Do you know how long I've been wanting to meet you? That film you were in with Hugh Grant, the chick flick- I completely loved it. It was just awesome!" Landan finished then looked over to Derek and winked. "Good work."

Meredith just forced a smile, "Thanks."

Derek, still enjoying the feeling of Meredith on his arm, smiled at Landan and then quickly diverted their direction to another of his collegues, one not so… out there.

"Owen," Derek said in elation. Owen was an older collegue and had been Derek's mentor throughout the whole of his twenties, learning the ins and outs of surgery from the one man who knew best.

"Derek, how are you?" The man turned around to see the couple advancing towards him. He was a man in roughly his sixties, great smile and neatly combed white hair. His build was strong and anyone could tell that back in his day, he was quite the catch.

"I'm fabulous thank you," He said in a delighted mood compared to when he was speaking to Landan. "How are you?"

"Not nearly as good as your lovely lady looks but still, who could be?" He winked at Meredith. What was it with surgeons and winking? Meredith blushed at Owen's compliments and felt a lot more confident around him than Landan.

"Thank you," Meredith said politely. "I'm Meredith Grey."

Owen obviously knew who she was but was not rude enough to go shouting it to the room. He took the hand she had held out for him to shake and bent down to kiss it.

"Lovely to meet you Meredith Grey. I'm Owen Stansley," Owen introduced himself. "So what do you do?"

"I'm an actress," Meredith replied.

"Oh, decided not to follow in your mother's footsteps?"

"Well, I tried but it didn't last long," Meredith laughed. "I just wasn't cut out for it. No pun intended."

Owen laughed and looked in Derek's direction. He noted the look of adoration he had directed towards Meredith and could not once remember a time that he had looked at Addison in that way. Sure, he had loved Addison but he could see Derek was feeling something like no other. The couple in front of him were clearly soulmates and were a perfect match but Owen wasn't going to bring this up tonight with Derek.

The evening continued with much the same small talk among Derek and his collegues. He had introduced Meredith to all his respected collegues and avoided all the pompous idiots that he was forced to work with occasionally. Meredith looked as though she was having a good time and she was very much enjoying the feel of being Derek's date. It was clear that most of the surgical team had a thing for Derek, male and female. Landan made his efforts to steer Meredith in a different direction so he could have some alone time with Derek but all attempts failed as Derek always seemed to find her within a minute.

Throughout the evening Meredith and Derek had reached that point in a relationship that usually takes a few weeks. They had joked and talked, feeling comfortable enough in each others company to reach any depth of conversation. It had just reached 9 o'clock.

"So do you want the guided tour?" Derek asked, wanting to get away from the prying eyes on the couple. Apparently bringing one of the most famous actresses in the world as your date could cause quite a commotion.

"Sure," Meredith was heard saying but at the same time a loud crying noise came from the entrance of the hospital.

"DADDY," Derek heard Alex scream. Alex never called him Daddy. Something must have been wrong. He grabbed Meredith's hand, which had never been much out of contact of Derek through the evening and Meredith felt his pulse racing.

"Alex?" Derek questioned into the crowd, trying to find the small boy. By the entrance to the hopsital stood three of his children.

"Where are Emily and Lou?" Derek asked, panick setting in.

"A man took them," Alex said, high-pitched and obviously scared.

"What? Which man?" Derek asked.

Meredith could see him about to explode into tears and sat him down on a seat next to the entrance. Once Derek had safely sat down, Meredith bent down to Alex's height and scanned his eyes.

"Tell me what happened from the beginning," Meredith said calmly.

"Well," Alex said, tears starting to fall from his eyes. Meredith put an arm around him and guided him to the seat next to Derek. Jacob and Maya followed, not quite understanding what was going on. "This man came up to the door and so Phoebe, our babysitter, answered and then screamed. So I went to the door and saw a man who had a knife. So I ran to the others and told them what was going on. We all managed to run out the back door and through to the garden but the man could run fast. Phoebe ran out the front door and got away and left us there. What a moron right?"

"Right," Meredith responded, still calm.

"Then, the man came into the back garden and we were all hiding but he found Emily and at that point we all ran out at him and asked him to give her back. Lou went up to him and did her 'diddums' look and said please but the man wasn't human and just picked her up with his arm, did the same with Emily and ran out the house. We chased him to the front of our house screaming but then we saw a car parked up and a woman was inside with a black hat on. She told him to hurry up but said naughty words and then we tried to chase him to the car but he was too quick and… and…" Alex started to cry once getting through the story, not quite managing to get out the fact that two of his sisters had been taken. "Is it all my fault?" He asked in his fathers direction.

Derek had tears strolling down his face and a look of distress forming.

"Of course it wasn't you fault sport," Derek said, not even managing a smile for the little chap.

"Did the lady in the car call the man any particular name?" Meredith asked.

"Errr…" Alex said.

"Rafe," Jacob interrupted. "The lady said hurry the fuck up Rafe."

"Jacob Ethan Shepherd," Derek sternly said. He couldn't deal with all this information and Meredith could see him breaking down.

"OK, everyone in the car," Meredith announced. Owen walked over and asked what was wrong.

"Emily and Lou have been taken," she said quietly, watching carefully the weary faces of the family walking towards Derek's car.

"Can I help in any way?" He asked.

"Hmmmm, I don't know," Meredith said. "Can I have your cell number so if we do I can call you?"

"Yeah sure," He agreed and handed over his cell number. She gratefully took it and ran out to the car in which Derek was sat in the drivers seat.

"Out," Meredith ordered. "You are not driving in this state."

He didn't have the energy to argue but simply asked Meredith one thing.

"Just please put your foot down," he said it quietly, as if trying to avoid the situation.

"Where are we going?" Maya asked.

"Police station," Meredith said. "How did you get to the hospital Alex?"

"We got Maya to the diddums look on a taxi driver," he answered.

Meredith smiled at the tense time. She was determined that her presence in this family would not be the reason it falls apart.

**THANK YOU...**

**Tracy.F, alexandizzie4eva, TCF, azgwest, ****Lucrece (its just called Notting Hill! lol, thanks so much for the review), ****Absent Heart (lol prepare yourself, and sorry for using the name Rafe for such a bad person! love the name tho!), karensmith, ****Lou (think your review is long? check out Islandgurl90s!), howtosavealife, Ciaobella06, ****dirtymistressXxX (thanks! make me blush u do!!), Islandgurl90 (has now set the barrier of long reviews... she has the title of longest review i have ever recieved! hehe, my bounty hunter side is quite relaxed at the moment due to the long review!), FrancisMc23, Carrie, Kilikina1, JainaZekk621, merbelle007, Mrs.Dr.DerekShepherd (ok, the ball wasnt all that fun!!), Endzi, SoInLuv (Derek should be naked the whole time on Greys, i dont think many would complain!), Amnesie (hope this is a quick enough update to not hurt ur feelings!!), skye3 (more fluff will come!), Dilly0702, ilovepatrick (thank you for beautiful comments and i wont tell your boss!! and i think everyone wants to be mer in this story, we are only human right?!), CJ (lol), Greysanatomyaddiction (thanks for the add of the story), nfinchamscheff.**

**sooooo... who the hell is Rafe and the woman? what the hell am i gonna write about without lou?!! and how will meredith cope with distraught Derek :(**

**Let me know what you think my darlings...**


	12. The Stampede

**I'm not going to ruin this chapter with my ramblings of A/N but i will say thanks to all those who reviewed!! I L.O.V.E you! all of you... at the end of reading this chapter refrain from the following a) throwing anything at me, b) throwing anything sharp at me, or c) verbally abusing me in anyway!**

Derek's panic began to set in and go into overdrive at the feeling of Meredith's driving. Although she had known the family for about 2 days, she had grown closer to them than she and her mother had ever been. She was under strict orders to put her foot down and she did just that.

Derek looked to the back seat of the Mercedes A-Class that had never been thrown so furiously through the streets of LA before. Along with the car, the children were suffering much the same treatment, each with a petrified look on their faces.

"Daddy," Maya spoke up whilst being squashed by her siblings against a car door as Meredith turned right.

"Yeah," He said it quietly as it was all he could muster for that moment. Her voice sounded so much like Lou's.

"We're going to get them back right?" She asked, tears welling up in her dark blue eyes which were showing the full extent to her pain. Derek was unable to answer, his eyes getting caught in his daughters and reflecting the watery agony.

"Of course we're going to get them back," Derek looked up to see where the voice had come from, and as if waking up from a trance, Meredith caught his eye with such determination he almost believed her. The car pulled to a stop and everyone except Meredith was flung forwards in their seat, almost causing whip lash. Derek stared in admiration for Meredith's conviction and in that moment, silently thanked God for bringing her into his life.

"Everyone out," Meredith ordered.

"We're here?" Alex asked, shocked.

"Yeah," Meredith said in a hurry. "Let's go."

"But it only took 4 minutes," Derek was confused, in much the same state as Alex.

"You told me to put my foot down, so I did," Meredith said, nonchalant with the style of her driving.

The troupe that had been reduced to five due to the kidnapping approached the desk in the police station. Meredith was leading the crowd, bearing the reponsibilty of talking to the officer sat behind the oversized reception desk.

"Hey," Meredith commanded the attention of the officer. "We need to report two kidnappings."

"OK, my name is Officer Randall. Can you give a description of the kids, the place they were taken, any witnesses etc." he was reciting the drill off by heart as if it were no big deal. Derek stepped forward.

"Look," he practically spat at the rudeness of the officer. "Two of my little girl's are in the company of two kidnappers. I don't want to fill in any forms, I want you to get in contact with all the officers out on the streets and get them to find my girls."

The tension in his voice was rising, causing it to crack and stutter under the pressure he was feeling. A hand reached out to squeeze his own, and like a drug, he hit a high of will-power. He reciprocated the squeeze and Meredith smiled. A very small, careful smile but a smile nonetheless. He needed her now, more than she knew. The only thing he needed more were his two girls back in his safe arms.

"OK," Officer Randall said at the outburst, as if he expected it to come. He called to another phone in the police department and handed their case off to another officer, one which was much more to Derek's liking.

They followed Officer Lochin down to his office and all piled in hurriedly, trying to actually get the process of searching for Emily and Lou started.

"Now, you say the kids were witnesses to the event," Lochin said. Derek's hand had not left Meredith's and wasn't planning on in a hurry.

"Yeah," Alex told him, grabbing the middle-aged man's attention.

"OK, can you tell me the exact details?" Lochin asked, not wanting to pry it out of such a young boy, but having no choice.

"Well, our babysitter abandoned us and left us with this guy who had a knife," Alex said, bitterly at the babysitter part.

"What did this man look like?" He asked in response to the knife part.

"He had long messy brown hair, really tall, dark suit on with a white shirt," Alex described.

"OK," Lochin wrote down every piece of detail that Alex offered.

"Yeah, and then he took Emily and Lou and drove off in a car that was red and long and looked like a Cadillac and inside was a woman with a black hat that covered her face and I couldn't really see her but she did have long red hair," he finished his description very innocently as Derek's head popped up at the mention of red hair.

"No," Derek whispered.

"No what?" Meredith turned to him.

"It couldn't be Addison could it?" He asked her quietly.

"Derek, lots of people have red hair. Sure not a lot but Addison is not the only one," Meredith reassured him.

"OK, if you could give descriptions of your two girls then we can send out an alert to all the officers on patrol," Lochin said gently, trying to make the process easier.

"She has curls which are a browny reddish colour and really blue eyes," Derek finished his description of Lou, struggling to get past the fact that she was missing, along with Emily. The only thing that kept him going was Meredith's hand, squeezing his now and again as if it were some sort of spur for him to get to the end.

"Lochin, we've just had a phone call from someone called Raphael Tennison. He claimed that he has two girls that Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey would know something about," A young looking police officer walked through the doors to Lochin's office. "He wants money and told us exactly where he is, he also wants Meredith Grey to be the one to give him the money."

Meredith's eyes shot up at the mention of her name. Could all this have something to do with her? The disturbing and obssessive lifestyle she had, which she had been wanting to rid herself of since she started acting was finally catching up with her. She was the reason for Lou and Emily being taken.

Her heart had slowed down to nearly nothing and all she could hear was blood flowing to her head as she felt Derek's hand go limp and reject hers. She looked into the usually warm blue eyes to be met with cold distant ice blue eyes which were unfamiliar. He looked away, unable to cope.

"Kids, go wait in the car," Derek told them.

"Derek, I'm sorry," Meredith pleaded, her eyes spilling tears of frustration.

"What do you want me to say?" Derek asked, her dejected eyes breaking through to his soul. She was nothing compared to what his children were to him. She was a blip on the radar and had caused his lifelines to be taken from him. Meredith didn't know what to say.

"What does he want with Derek's children?" Meredith asked the police officer, turning to a person that could perhaps lead her to fixing the situation.

"He said that if he doesn't have you in reaching distance within the next hour then one of the kids is going to be hurt," the young officer pained to say it. Derek stood up, leaving the room and heading towards the exit. Meredith followed, running as fast as she could in the heels that she could barely walk in to keep up with his furious long strides.

"Look," Derek said, turning on his heel to Meredith and her incessant pleadings of guilt. He looked down to his side, letting a single tear fall. "I need you to be here so I can get my girls back but that's it. If there is a slight chance that the woman with them is Addison, I would choose her. She would be the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. So as soon as we get Emily and Lou back, I want you to leave and never come back. I don't even care if I'm seventy and still alone. If I don't get my kids back, I swear to God that I'll never step a foot near you again."

He was so confused in all the commotion. It wasn't Meredith's fault and he knew it, he was contradicting himself throughout his ramblings of anger that had made Meredith begin to cry with him.

"Get in the car and drive," Derek ordered to her, not having control over his emotions or actions at that present time. Meredith had not seen an angry side of Derek. She had not picked him out as the aggressive type, but she knew what he was feeling because to some extent she felt it too. She knew that if her feelings at the time were multiplied by even two, she would be threatening to kill someone by now. He must have been close to dying inside and she saw it in his eyes.

"Where did this Raphael guy say he was?" Derek demanded towards the young police officer, who along with Lochin had joined Meredith and himself in the hallway to the station.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do this sir, so just calm yourself," Lochin spoke up.

"No, you will tell me where that man is keeping my kids, you can come as well but I am going to get my kids. No matter what it takes, they'll be in my arms by the end of tonight," Derek screamed, his fury uncontrollable as again and again people told him to calm down.

"OK sir, we'll drive you to the site where he is keeping your kids but you have to promise us that you'll let us take it from there," Lochin kept his voice low and calm. Derek nodded simply, calming his pulse slightly. It took one look at Meredith's stony expression to set it soaring again.

"Oh God, Meredith," He almost whimpered as he came to realize what he had blurted out in rage. His hands flew through his hair and he twisted his head back and forth in a shaking hatred of himself. He couldn't shake the thoughts from his head, and he looked back up to her face and wanted to take her in his arms and not let go until it was over. He had just betrayed his strength.

Her cheeks were covered in tears and her perfected face had never looked so disappointed and heart-broken. He had failed her and she turned on her heel, away from his presence and towards his car.

"Get in the car Derek," She shouted out the window as she refused to let the tears that had fallen continue.

"What's going on?" Jacob asked amidst the bitter tension of the car journey.

"Nothing," came the answer from both Meredith and Derek. Meredith was on hot pursuit of the police car that was clearing the traffic towards the place which would no doubt result in some sort of tragedy. Everything in the car was silent except the screeching of tyres that came round every corner. Meredith was struggling the urge to burst out in tears. How could this be happening?

She struggled to see through the water block that covered her vision. She halted the car to a stop outside a factory on the outskirts of town and raced out the car only to be stopped by Officer Lochin.

She looked over towards the entrance of one factory, a helicopter overhead shining a light down onto where four people were stood. A police officer was bravely approaching the situation and Derek watched in curiousity, trying to see the woman's face, searching for any sign of Addison.

They couldn't see much from where they were crouching, on orders from Lochin, behind a car but they could hear the megaphone's answers to whatever the man was asking.

"Please, put the gun down," The police man asked. "I will not come any closer. Just don't hurt the girl." A pause followed where Raphael was obviously demanding something. "Meredith Grey is in the area but we ask that you let the hostages go before we let you see her."

Over all the noise, Lou's screaming was heard loud and clear and Derek looked over to meet Meredith's anguished expression as he could tell all she wanted to do was comfort the screaming as much as he did.

"We're going to let you see Meredith in different conditions. Just let the girls go."

A single gunshot was heard and Derek ran forward towards where the police officer had fallen.

"Derek," Meredith screamed, flinching her eyes closed at the sight of Derek in open ground in front of a murderer.

"He's not hurt," Derek yelled over the helicopter whirls. "He wasn't shot, he's fine."

Derek looked over to where the kidnapper was and could just make out his Lou's frame and figure. He then looked down to the ground to where a body lay. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't blink, he couldn't move, paralyzed in fear. It hurt, nothing in the world existed but the pain that ate away at him the more he stared towards the ground. He picked up the megaphone from the police man lying in defense on the ground.

"YOU SICK BASTARD!" Derek yelled down the megaphone. He took two steps forward towards Raphael and the others. "WHAT THE HELL? LET ME SEE MY DAUGHTERS. YOU DON'T WANT TO BE THAT GUY. THE GUY ACROSS ALL THE MEDIA, KNOWN AS THE GUY WHO KIDNAPPED AND SHOT MEREDITH GREY'S KIDS."

Meredith listened intently and disobeying all orders and restraints on her, broke free and ran to where Derek was stood. She now understood his outburst. She could see Emily doubled over in pain as the crying and screaming of Lou and now Emily became louder to Meredith's ears.

"YOU NEED TO LET ME LOOK AFTER MY DAUGHTER. YOU DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO TAKE ANYONE'S LIFE AWAY. WHAT THE HELL POSSESSES YOU TO DO THIS?"

Derek became aware of Meredith's presence and took five steps in advance, gaining confidence with Meredith's proximity. She followed.

"WHAT, YOU WANT TO SHOOT MEREDITH TOO? IS THAT WHAT YOUR AIM IS? WHAT HAS SHE EVER DONE TO YOU?'

"I went on a one night stand with him," Meredith explained into his ear, slowly edging towards Raphael and now fully seeing his face. Rafe looked motionless and the redhead had a strong tight grip of Lou. Rafe had a gun aiming between Meredith and Derek then down to Emily and Lou.

"ALL THIS IS OVER A ONE NIGHT STAND RAFE?" Derek screamed more than ever down the megaphone, it squeaking in response to the volume.

Meredith took the megaphone from a crying and shaking Derek, his hands flying through his hair at the ability of having two hands free. She took center stage.

"Raphael, you don't have to do this, be that guy. Just step away, let Derek look at Emily and Lou, come and get me, I'm right here. They do not deserve this. If I'm what you want, come get it," she told him sternly, defeated and crying furiously.

"FUCK OFF," Rafe yelled, responding to the fierce love that was being projected to the children in his company.

"No," Meredith said down the megaphone. "Step away from her, let Derek check she's ok."

"STAY EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE UNTIL I ORDER YOU WHEN TO MOVE, WHEN THIS IS OVER, I WANT MONEY" Rafe screamed, his voice shaking, realization setting in as to where exactly he was and what he was doing. He stepped away from the children on the ground and ordered the woman to release Lou.

Lou instinctively began to run towards her father. Another gun shot was heard and a screaming that could have cut through stone began to ring through the factories around them. Derek sprinted to where Lou had fallen on the ground.

**hit the button!!!**


	13. A sculpted tragedy

**Recap of chapter 12: Lou and Emily have been taken hostage by Meredith's random one-night-stand-man Rafe. Meredith, Derek, alex, maya and jacob arrive at a factory to find the scene before them one of CHAOS! Rafe panicks big time and shoots Emily and a mysterious woman is also in on the act. **

**"Rafe screamed, his voice shaking, realization setting in as to where exactly he was and what he was doing. He stepped away from the children on the ground and ordered the woman to release Lou.**

**Lou instinctively began to run towards her father. Another gun shot was heard and a screaming that could have cut through stone began to ring through the factories around them. Derek sprinted to where Lou had fallen on the ground."**

Her blood was slowly trickling it's pathways around where her small body was struggling in pain. She wouldn't and couldn't stop screaming and Derek was not able to form coherent thoughts, let alone come up with a plan. He may have been a world renown surgeon but when it came to his own children he was simply a petrified father.

"Emily," Meredith whispered to herself as she remembered she had fallen in the shootings too.

He heard the whisper from Meredith and gently picked up Lou, pressing a hand to her side where the bullet of the gun had pierced her skin. He ran her over to where Emily lay, unconcious. All was too much for Derek as he cried his way through checking if his two girl's were still alive. Every sound was drowned from his hearing, the flickering light of the helicopter confusing his mind.

"Meredith, place Emily's head in your lap and kneel, check for breath sounds," Meredith was ordered from Derek. Having dropped out of medschool as Christina reminded her frequently, she found her knowledge for the basics enough to get Emily breathing again, doing compressions and checking for a pulse until Emily let out a whimper.

"Where was she shot?" Derek asked from his postion next to Lou, applying pressure on the wound to keep it from bleeding out.

"The leg, she's lost a lot of blood," Meredith told him frantically.

"Swap," Derek ordered and Meredith ran over to his position.

"LOU, EMILY," Jacob, Maya and Alex screamed, running over to join their father and Meredith, the police knowing the danger was fleeing the scene.

"Stand back guys, just hold on two seconds ok?" Meredith told her. The three terrified children did as they were told and Meredith took over from Derek on holding Lou's wound sealed.

Derek ran over to Emily's leg, on seeing her breathing, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Owen?" Meredith had her free hand on her phone and Derek mouthed a thank you to her. After looking over Emily's wound and assuring her that the pain would eventually go away if she just thought about something else, Derek looked over to Meredith. At the immediate instant his eyes met the greeny blue sparks he found the strength he had lost.

Meredith watched him in fascination as she saw his paternal side meet the surgeon that was Derek Shepherd. He tore his jacket off his frame and let it drop to the floor. Taking off his shirt, revealing his sculpted chest, he ripped the shirt apart and into strands, wrapping a long piece around the top of Emily's leg. He then threw most of the shirt over to Meredith and she pushed it against the wound that belonged to a semi-concious Lou.

"Lou, can you hear me honey?" Meredith needed to keep her talking.

"I… she… don't…" Lou was bambling and her eyes were frantically darting around looking for something to focus on.

"Where's the ambulance?" Derek yelled to a nearby officer.

"It's about five minutes out," He yelled back.

Meredith saw the tears of frustration threatening to spill from his piercing blue eyes and she felt the raw emtion hitting her in exactly the same way.

"Why the hell is it taking them so long?" Derek asked.

"Because of that," The officer offere an answer and pointed towards the crowds of paparazzi crowding around the police blockage, each with their own car. Meredith immediately felt her teeth grip onto suppport from her lower lip.

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Derek screamed, not handling the pressure. He threw a stoney glare in Meredith's direction, knowing that she was the reason that his daughters were not getting to the hospital.

Meredith hung her head low and the tears stinging the back of her eyelids began to freely flow down her cheeks.

"Lou," She needed to focus on the little girl to stop herself from screaming and mentally having a breakdown.

There was no response from the little girl and Meredith began to frantically shake at her to wake up.

"LOU," Meredith screamed as Derek joined her at Lou's side.

"Lou, Lou keep talking." Meredith's speaking had become frantic as she saw Lou slip out of concious.

"LOU," Alex screamed as he heard Meredith's distraught voice. Maya, Alex and Jacob were all stood over their siblings, gazing in torment at the sight of their dying sister.

"Baby, Lou," Derek whimpered, the tears beginning to flow just as freely as Meredith's. "Wake up baby, don't die. Please, I can't… Lou."

He reached across and layed a hand on her stomach where the wound was beginning to swell to alerting status. Accidently, he felt Meredith's hand already there and both shared a look. He didn't know whether to scream at the woman of his dreams or slap her.

"How the fuck could this happen?" he heard her cry.

"Lou," Derek ignored Meredith's comment and continued trying to contact his youngest child.

Lou's POV

She could hear the chaos above her as she kept her eyes fully shut. The swirling sounds of the helicopter, the bustling of people around her head.

"Lou," that was her father's voice above her. She could also make out Mer's voice in the distance somewhere. Slowly she opened her eyes expecting to see the chaotic scene she had left. As things came into focus she was laying on the ground where she remembered just being, except, all Lou could see was a deserted factory yard. No-one was there. It was completely abandoned and a low sun made the surroundings glow a white-red colour.

"DADDY," Lou yelled as she sat up suddenly. She heard him cry her name and then heard Meredith's too but more faintly and soon she could hear nothing. No helicopter, no people, no Meredith and worst of all, no daddy. She felt a surge of pain from her side and saw that there was a huge scar forming with blood covering the edges of the top she had on. She slowly stood up and ignored the pain in a bid to find out where she was and what was going on.

"Lou?" A voice behind her called out.

"Mummy?" Lou asked into the abyss.

A frame in the glowing light appeared as Lou steadily turned around to see if it was true. The flaming red hair that matched her own colour and sparkling blue eyes that she had always longed to look into, were belonging to that of Addison Shepherd.

**OK, so i'm pretty sure a few readers actually want to murder me! What a point in the story to get busy hey? i'm SO sorry (i cant apologize enough) for the fact that i havent updated in ooo... whats it been now? a year?!! but, ive got exams and im pretty busy at the moment. i've had three attempts at writing chapter 13 and this is the best and least confusing of the three! **

**So, if you have managed to forgive me for being such a jerk for not updating could pretty please give me some feedback/ideas/motivation/abuse in the form of a review! I LOVE YOU GUYS AND THANKS FOR THE PATIENCE!**

**chapter 12 reviewers who i love dearly and couldnt imagine my cyber life without: JainaZekk621, alexandizzie4eva, hugeGAfan, mershep1fan, karensmith, paulis8707, TCF, Elyse, azgwest, WATTERS, 2SeXy4MYsCRUbS, Orangepen, dilly0702, dirtymistressxxx, shell36799, JordanCavanaughHoyt, McSteamyisMcGorgeous, Auburn Hepdrey, TopBanana, jellybean12, gwennon, Jen, CJ, Endzi, ilovepatrick, pd52, skye3, greys has become my life, absent heart, ximsuchatragedy11x, ga-4-ever, into.the.fire, lou, McAlice92, Kilikina1, Bekirock, desecretperson, chloe, seriously.grey03, cubantigger816.**

**if there arent many reviews then i'll assume people have lost interest to which i can completely understand :(**

**xxxxxxxxx**

**PS... bet you've all missed my authors notes that seem to be longer than the chapter itself!**


	14. A Speech of Character

"Hows it going kiddo?" Addison smiled in her daughters direction. She softly bent down to her knees and held her arms out in mid-air, waiting, wanting, needing to feel her daughters small frame wrapped in the protective shield of her own.

"Mummy!" Lou yelled, realizing her eyes were not lying to her, it was her mother. She ran, feeling as light as the air she was breathing in swiftly, until she hit the arms of the woman she had secretly wanted to hug for her whole life.

"Haha," Addison laughed at her little girl's excitement and joy. "Seriously, what's up?" Addison asked.

"I don't know," Lou replied, not letting her head leave the shoulder that it was resting on. Her arms wrapped round the woman's neck, squeezing tightly.

"What's wrong?" She asked, smiling at the happy child.

"Why did you leave?" Lou asked innocently. Her whole life up until now had been plagued with abandonment issues purely because of her mother and now she wanted the answers that haunted her dreams. Lou felt the urge to cry, the feelings of doubt and pain slowly draining out of her body as slowly a single tear dampened her eyelashes and spilled over her cheek.

"Shhh," Addison comforted. Lou couldn't stop her crying from taking over control of her body. Her jerky body movements slowed to a stop as her mother's arms ran up and down her back in a bid to cease the crying.

"We all miss you," Lou said quietly and simply. Addison smiled and finally let go of Lou, knowing she wasn't going anywhere.

"I miss you too," Addison told her.

Lou could barely look her mother in the eyes in fear of loosing her again.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"Well, I can't really tell you that, only you have the final say in that matter," Addison told her. She sat on the open patch of concrete and Lou sat gently in her lap, enjoying the company of her mother, not wanting to let go. "All those years ago, I went out to get something for you kids for breakfast. When I was walking home a man took me, like the man who took you this evening."

Lou looked down at the painful memory.

"But you never came back," Lou bitterly said, her tears were still spilling over her Derek-like eyes. Addison couldn't stand the look of pain and anguish.

"I tried baby, but he took me somewhere that no-one knew about and then one day he left me there and I ended up here," Addison attempted to explain to her young child. She looked confused to say the least.

"I don't want you to be here though, I want you to be with us," Lou said, naïve to the true circumstances she was in.

"Well, maybe so but I certainly don't want you to be here," Addison told her, pushing her off her lap so she was looking at a standing Lou.

"Why not? You don't love me?" Lou's look of desolate distress made Addison well up and all she could think of were her five children and Derek, how much she just wanted to hug and kiss each of them, to have Derek hold her one more night in their bed as through the night, each child would cautiously join them after having a bad dream.

"You have to go back to where you were, it may hurt but it will get better," Addison told her daughter.

"I don't want to go back, I want to stay here with you," Lou sobbed, dropping her head back down to her mother's shoulder, feeling her red waves in the low sunlight.

"You can't stay here with me," Addison told her. "You'd never see your brothers or sisters or Daddy again. With me, I'll just be in your head ok? Whenever you need me just think about me."

"I need you all the time," Lou said, through gritted teeth and much in the same way Derek would have if he was angry.

"You can't have me all the time," Addison told her. "Go back."

"NO," Lou screamed, wanting to be with her mother, not wanting to admit that she was going to leave her.

"Lou," Addison held her tiny wrists in her hands before she could escape and run through the open factory yard.

"I HATE YOU," Lou screamed, resisting the urge to lash out at her mother. She mustered up all her strength in resisting her mother's grip on her wrists, wriggling them around, stamping her feet, her face contorting into different expressions in her bid to become free. The hope of becoming able to run away diminished and instead Lou collapsed into her mother's arms. She was scared and in disbelief that her mother didn't want to keep her safe and with her forever.

Addison started letting her daughter's frame loose in her grip.

Lou tried to look up to see her mother's face but she had disappeared and without her mother's body supporting her, Lou fell to the ground on her back, her eyes gazing up to the suddenly dark sky.

"Mummy," Lou yelled in hope.

"Lou," she heard Meredith's voice in her head. Lou could only move her eyes and nothing more. She looked around and saw distant flashing lights cirlcing around on the concrete she felt beneath her.

"The ambulance is here but can't get through the press," an officer gave the victim's carers an update.

"Emily, honey," Derek said, "Keep talking, you're doing great. Is she back with us Mer?"

Meredith nodded in response to Derek's question about Lou. Her attention wasn't on Lou though. None of this mattered if the ambulance couldn't get through. Meredith hated the press with a passion. She never spoke to them unless she had to and this was a time for speaking. Cautiously, with Derek's eyes on her, she slowly rose with the megaphone in her shakey and bloody hands.

He watched as the megaphone drew closer to her lips and a click indicated to the world's press that she would be speaking. Lou and Emily below her were whispering gibberish to Derek to keep themselves alive and time was running out.

"Hi," Meredith said, not in a joking manner but more ironic about the situation. "So, I know I don't talk to you guys very often and you probably think that this is just a desperate attempt to grab some publicity but it really isn't."

Although her voice had started out soft and sweet, the emotions of anger towards the people causing such devastation on her soulmates family had caught up with the vocal chords.

"If you really want to know what is going on down here then I'll explain. There are two little girls who are bleeding to death and need to get to a hospital a.s.a.p. Their father is a doctor but can't do anything until we get to a hospital. The only means of getting to the hospital safetly is with an ambulance… of which is blocked by all you guys and your stupid cars. I'm going to ask you once nicely to all move your cars and get out the way before I make you."

The threatening manner in her voice made Derek see that although she wanted people to perceive her as tough, she was as good as she was awarded at acting. The world didn't see what he saw. The world saw the exterior of Meredith Grey and as his blue met her green, he could see the fragile and vulnerable Meredith that clearly wanted to break down in his arms and cry to her heart content.

"Thank you," He murmurred, knowing how much guts it must have taken for her to address an angry mob of papparazzi.

"Are they both still with us?" She asked about the girls.

"In and out but they just need to get to the hospital and get some blood pumped into them, especially Lou," Derek answered, still murmurring as more tears threatened to spill from her act of love.

"Everything is going to be fine," Meredith told him, placing a reassuring hand on his bare shoulder.

The next day, Meredith went to the hospital after spending just 2 hours away from it. How could she leave them after what they had been through together? Visiting hours were well and truly over but as Derek worked at the hospital, he was allowed special access and therefore that allowed her special access.

"So, what are all these kids names?" Christina asked Meredith, who was beginning to think Christina was not the best person to bring for emotional support.

"You've spent time with all of them, you should know," Meredith whispered in an exasperated manner.

"Yeah, you're going to have to do better than that cos I barely remember McDreamy's real name," Christina said.

"The two little girls who are hurt are called Emily and Lou. Lou is the cute, little one and Emily is the eldest. Alex is the older boy and Jacob is the younger boy. Maya is the one who will be running round the room flipping out from excitement," Meredith explained the family.

"Riiight," Christina said, pretending she cared.

"The papers know more than you do about this family," meredith quipped, knowing Christina didn't give a rats ass.

"Hi," Christina said to Derek, walking in and shaking his hand.

"Hi Christina, nice to see you again," Derek said, catching eyes with Meredith and letting her and only her see the sparkling glint of joy in his eye show.

"What's new?" Meredith asked as she leant over and he pecked her on his cheek.

"Nothing much," He said as he gratefully received the kiss and grabbed hold of her hand, making her sit down on his lap as he lowered himself into the chair.

"Where are the kids?" Meredith asked, very aware of the hushed noise. Lou and Emily were fast asleep, one recovering from an orthopedic and spinal surgery and one recovering from a spleen removal surgery after having internal bleeding.

"Dr Burke took them out for lunch," Derek smiled as Meredith's small body pressed against his, her back to his chest, his arm snaking round her waist and her head resting in the crook of his neck. He could smell lavender on her and grinned at the memory of the hottub.

"Fancy," Meredith said.

"Not really," Derek said. "He took them to the canteen."

"Oh, how adorable, I'll go say hi to the little angels," Christina yelled out to the couple's surprise. She rolled her eyes and went in search for the Dr Preston Burke of which as an intern, she had only heard good things about.

"Was that sarcasm?" Derek asked, chuckling to Meredith.

"Wow, your quick," Meredith smiled.

"And again, with the sarcasm. You two make quite the sarcastic couple," Derek teased about her best friend.

"Whatever," Meredith couldn't think of a decent comeback.

"They're both recovering fine, probably be tired and asleep for the next couple of days but should be up and about and completely back to normal in a few weeks. Emily will have to wear crutches," Derek anticipated all of Meredith's questions before she had a chance to even ask them.

"Good," Meredith said. She sat perfectly content enveloped in his frame.

"You know, the first time she ever walked was on the beach," Derek reflected quietly to Meredith, staring at Emily's resting form on the bed. "She was 16 months old and had just started talking. Addison was lathering herself in suncream as per usual and had just finished doing it to Em. She looked like a little white ghost in a nappy and a pink sun hat covering her eyes and I looked at her and said 'who's my little angel?' and that's when it happened. She lifted her arm out towards me and found it not to be close enough so simply moved her feet in my direction."

Meredith smiled at the perfect memory that seemed to be imprinted on his mind. He started to laugh.

"She was always a mummy's girl. Whenever she was ill, tired, angry, upset, happy, she went to Addison. Everything was about her mother but that one moment… that was all I needed for her to let me know that she loved me just as much… of course, she fell over after two steps and started laughing," Derek ended on a light-hearted memory.

Meredith's eyes were welling up from Derek's recall of such an early memory and she couldn't find any words fitting to break the silence so she didn't. She simply turned around in his arms, her hands snaking their way to the back of his neck playing on the soft curls there and smiled whilst getting lost in his deep pools of ocean blue.

**So, little bits of fluff... okay well the whole thing was one huge fluff ball really but i felt the story needed some relief from all the angst and what not. OK, i was going to kill Lou off but since you guys seem to love the lil girl, and i have to say- it's fun writing her- i decided not to be harsh.**

**I'm glad you all seem to like my ridiculously long authors notes... i enjoy writing them purely cos my special talent other than sarcasm is the ability to RAMBLE! but seriously- im ecstatic about the amount of people still reading... so dont loose hope yet. i just want to point out that chapters 11-13 was not the climax of this story.**

**Special thanks toooooooo:**

**TCF, desecretperson, sam, shell36799, merlovesder and skye3 for reading and reviewing the chapter 13 i posted like a month ago and removed cos it was too confusing. hope you guys liked the new one better!**

**and toooooo...**

**ABSENT HEART (happy?! i onlyt write my thanks in order of which i recieve reviews! Don't throw a tantrum CD, mamma cant handle it right now!)alexandizzie4eva, Lou, hugeGAfan, Dilly0702, azgwest, greys has become my life, JainaZekk621, jellybelly12, Kilikina1, 2SeXy4MYsCRUbS (i knew someone loved my long notes and your worth the mention!) Endzi, Leash, GreysAddict21, karensmith, ga-4-ever, kml57, WATTERS**

xxxExxx

**please read, enjoy and review. i need some cheering up due to recent events! reviews (although are not the solution to the problems) can completely help!**


	15. Eau de

**OK, you guys asked for conversations and that's what you get... literally.. convo after convo!! This chapter is spread over 2 weeks so go with me here and keep up!**

Derek had left the responsibility of his two daughters in the hands of Meredith. She didn't mind, in fact it was she who had practically kicked him out of the door to go and retrieve some coffee for himself with Dr Burke and Christina. She looked down at the peaceful, sleeping girls. After such little time of knowing them, she felt more connected to this family than her own. How insane was that? Some might say it was moving to fast but Meredith thought it had more to do with the lack of family relations she had.

Although she couldn't deny her obvious attraction to Derek, she was worried about where their relationship would go. He was still suffering with issues of his wife, that was clear and there was a lack of closure that he spoke of, to which Meredith could relate.

"What am I going to do with him, hey?" Meredith asked a silent Emily. She sat beside her on the bed and out of comfort instinct, Emily snuggled into Meredith's shoulder, linking arms with her. She accepted the unexpected hug from such a closed girl and saw that deep down, under her exterior she was still a scared youngster who was suffering just as much, if not more, than her father.

"Your dad has to be the most frustrating person I've ever met," Meredith continued to rant to a girl who was so far beyond concious land it made it easier to admit feelings to her. "I mean, he waltzes into my life looking all gorgeous and fabulous, he has the looks, personality, charm, family, money. He has it all apart from that special someone. That was his wife. But she's gone kiddo. She is so gone. Why won't he come to terms with that and let someone else in?"

"I'm trying," Derek's voice was heard from the doorway, startling Meredith and causing her to slide off the bed she was resting on so peacefully with Emily.

"How long have you been stood there?" Meredith asked, acting innocent. He twisted his head to one side, a small quick smile tracing his lips, disappearing just as fast.

"Long enough," He replied, his voice showing exhaustion and strain. His face was clearly trying to hide his troubles.

"Is that what you think?" He asked sadly after a moments silence. He didn't wait for her response, instead he continued. "Look, I know I have a fantastic life, I know I have the money, the great kids, the great career but one thing is missing." Meredith smiled at his modesty as he left out the part she had mentioned about his looks.

"The thing is, losing Addi was the most difficult event I have ever had to deal with until now. Because now… now I have to work on your forgiveness. I have to rebuild your trust and to do that I have to take care of my two daughters cos without them, I wont have the strength to get your trust back."

It was like there was a huge elephant being lifted out the room with a crane. Meredith smiled at Derek and slowly walked over to his body, immediately feeling the warmth radiating.

"I'm sorry I said those horrible things to you about Addison and always chosing her over you but you have to understand this is hard. I'm just getting to know you. I'm sorry," Derek said, quietly apologizing. It wasn't often in his line of work where the ego was bigger than anyone could handle that someone apologized to another, excluding condolences.

"Derek, I'm falling for you. Big time. It's not a little school girl crush. It's a big time love feeling which I didn't even know I had. I've felt loveless all my life, hence why I never become close to anyone and why my best friend is… well Christina."

He slid his arms around her waist, pulling her in for a hug. She gratefully received it.

"You're not the only one who's scary and damaged," Derek smiled into her shoulder at her choice of words.

"I know I have to come to terms with Addi and I need closure but up until now I've had no reason to. I have not met a woman even close to the way Addison made me feel until I saw you that night of the crash. I'm no longer loveless Mer. I just need time. You got some of that for us?" Derek asked, pulling away from the hug and staring intently into her eyes, begging her to answer him yes. She met the gaze and simply nodded, touched by his words.

* * *

A week had passed since the night of the kidnapping and 2 days after it had happened, the police had managed to track down Rafe and the woman and capture them. The woman had turned out to be called Lauren and had no relation to Addison whatsoever. The couple had tried to flee L.A. but got caught by cameras in Las Vegas the following night. They were both awaiting their court hearings in jail.

Derek had rarely left the hospital, constantly by his daughters sides, only leaving to feed his urgent need for coffee, showering or food. Meredith had been to visit everyday, staying for as long as possible and her relationship with Derek was taking it's sweet time. They had moments that let Meredith know that it was worth waiting for. For instance, on one of the rare occasions where Derek needed to go to a different floor, they had met in an elevator. He had simply smiled her way- the type of smile that he knew made her weak at the knees- and had lightly grazed her hand with his own, sending tingles up and down her arms, into her back and subsequently all over her body. One touch was all it took.

In the media, the top story for the past week had been Meredith's situation and her little rant to the press about how much they sucked. Of course, they had all done their research into the Shepherd's background and had caused Addison's disapperance case to be reopened.

"Fantastic," Derek had said in response, oozing sarcasm that rivalled Christina's.

So far, no new leads had been found. Derek had pretty much ignored the reports but had focused on his family.

"Hey," Meredith said, walking freely into the room of Emily and Lou. She collapsed onto the sofa next to Derek who was reading a magazine. He had it open on a version of Addison's story.

"Whatcha thinking?" Meredith asked in a joking manner.

"How good you smell right now," Derek returned the playful manner, breathing in her unique smell of lavender mixed with a scent he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Well, I would smell better if I mixed me with you but whatever."

"Are you trying to say I smell?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, a faint whiff of aftershave, a strong smell of home and kids and a lovely stench of Derek!" She smiled at the end of her desription.

He laughed at her assessment and lightly drapped his arm around her shoulder.

"It's called Eu de Derek," She laughed whilst snuggling into his chest.

"Hmmm, so Eu de Derek plus Eu de Meredith equals… what?" He was curious.

"Eu de hotness," She smiled speaking as if the answer was obvious. He laughed and kissed her hair, breathing in the scent they had just spoken of. He couldn't get enough.

"Seriously though, what are you thinking about?" She turned the tone serious.

"Just the crazy stuff of this whole situation…" He paused, feeling the need to continue as Meredith's gaze fell upon him expectantly.

"I've learnt to deal with the death of my wife. So when there was a slight chance she was alive, I sort of panicked. What would I have done if Lauren had been Addison?" Another pause came as he felt her hand reassuringly rub his chest.

"When we were stood in the factory yard and I could barely see anyone's face, all I could think was that even if it was Addison, I wanted their hands off of my daughter. She is no longer the mother of my children, no longer my wife and no longer the woman of my dreams. I imagined Lauren as Addison and she was as empty as the dreams. The thought of her alive… seeing her again… if I had the chance to have her back, I wouldn't take it. Knowing that she is dead… and this is going to sound awful but…knowing she is dead would be satisfying, you know? They'd be closure, once and for all."

He let a sigh slip out, relief washing over him. Meredith turned her face towards his and lightly traced his lips with her own. It was a soft kiss, leaving sparks and tingles soaring through his body, and put his mind into a trance.

* * *

The following week, all the newspapers were discussing a new topic- Addison's dead body. They had found it in a forest, south of Seattle. Derek had remained nonchalant about it all, as if he was repressing all his emotions. Meredith was worried about him due to him suffocating his children in love and affection. He wouldn't leave the house where Emily and Lou were now recovering and was refusing help from anyone.

"Daddy," Lou shouted for her father's attention whilst walking down the stairs. Instead of meeting her father as expeted in the living room, it was Meredith. "Oh hey Mer."

"Morning gorgeous," She replied, the little girl bouncing down on the sofa, smiling at the woman who had acted so motherly towards her for the last two weeks. "You feeling good?"

"Yeah, I feel great. I want to go out though," Lou said, slightly bored of always being stuck upstairs in bed.

"Your daddy says you're not well enough yet though," Meredith said curiously to Lou, wondering why she was saying such an obvious thing to her.

"That's cos he doesn't want me to be good. He's doing the thing…"

Lou looked at Meredith's puzzled face.

"You know… the thing?"

"Oh right, the thing," Meredith smiled sarcastically at Lou. "I got no idea what you're talking about kiddo."

"The thing he always does when he's trying to act fine. He is convinced I'm not well enough so he can smother me to avoid other stuff," Lou explained. It was almost as if she knew the routine off by heart.

"So you feel absolutely fine?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, better than ever. Emily still has crutches but she's good too," Lou continued. "We're lying to him so he doesn't go all depressed and mean."

"Oh," Meredith smiled, trying to process this. The intelligence of Lou was astounding but the amount of issues Derek had or still has was shocking. She was only just starting to get an idea of it.

"Right, grab you shoes," Meredith said. "We're going out."

"Where's daddy?" Lou asked, scared.

"In the back garden with the others. We'll leave him a note, don't worry!" Meredith said before grabbing hold of Lou's hands and hoisting her in the air.

**here are the long author notes you all love and adore...**

**Merci beaucoup (oh yes, i know french people!) to the regulars who i love and adore: Endzi, JainaZekk621, desecretperson, Absent Heart (luv u CD), Tracy.F, Auburn Hepdrey, alexandizzie4eva, greysaddict21, Lou (how could i kill you?!), TCF (spanner is at the ready!), kilikina1, Dilly0702, melissaluvsgreysanatomy (its only just clicked that your from the GA fanfic site!), Into.the.fire, shell36799 and ga-4-ever. Also to the up and coming regulars cos new readers are BRILLIANT (we all love a bit of fresh blood!): Bekirock, halcyon x and coppie. **

**Right... some explanation (argh, i feel like shonda in her stupid blogs! anyone else still fuming bout the season finale?!). Anyway, there are two ways i could take this depending on the response i get from this chapter. I could end it in one chapter making it have 16 chapters all together or i could continue to the next plot line and it have like 25 chapters. your choice... let me know...**

**OF COURSE I DIDN'T KILL LOU YOU SILLY BILLYS!!!! hehe, anyway.. if it does go on for 25 chapters theres a lot more angst and stuff to come where as if it ends on chapter 16 then it will only be fluff (which i personally am not the greatest fan of writing!)**

**click the lil purple button... thats right... hmmmmmmmm...**


	16. No longer the Loveless accident

**Don't kill me... please! Step away from your spanners, any sharp objects which are throwable at me and just think before you say anything you may regret... but still review!!**

_Derek and Daddy_

_We're going to the park, be back soon… do not panic!_

_Love you lots_

_Mer and Lou_

_Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Meredith and Lou left the house after writing the note, enjoying the sunshine together as they walked hand in hand down the road. Lou stopped after about 5 minutes and held her arms up to Meredith, asking her to lift her up without words.

"How old are you now?" Meredith asked, knowing the answer but hoping it would cause the girl to realize her mistake and lower her arms.

"I'm only 4," Lou smiled innocently and started rocking back and forth, perfecting her trademark 'diddums' look.

"Oh really?" Meredith laughed. "Most four-year-olds I know walk by themselves. What makes you any different?"

"I'm Lou, I'm no ordinary four-year-old. I'm special, daddy tells me all the time," Lou smiled, keeping her 'diddums' position.

"I bet he does," Meredith smirked, looking down at the little girl who was refusing to lower her arms. The two were stood in the middle of the pathway, playfully arguing…

A year later, they were having the same argument. Lou hadn't grown that much, 1.5 inches at the most, contrasting to Maya and Jacob who had grown roughly double that. She was definitely the baby of the group and boy, did they know it.

"How old are you now?!" Meredith exclaimed in the same spot she had reasoned that point exactly a year before.

"I'm only 5," Lou smiled innocently, rocking into the 'diddums' look.

"Oh my dear child, I'm completely immune to that look," Meredith laughed.

"But mummy," Lou complained, the name rolling off her tongue as it had done for the last 6 months.

"No buts, do you want to go to the park?" Meredith asked calmly.

"Yeah," Lou sighed in reponse.

"And do you want to meet up with Daddy and the others who are already having fun there?" Meredith asked in the same tone as before. Derek may treat her as his princess little girl but Meredith was the rock that bought her down to reality.

"Yeah," Lou repeated her sigh.

"Right then, hold my hand and stop pretending I'm your father, it ain't gonna work," Meredith smiled.

"I thought it was worth a try," Lou giggled back, knowing that whenever Meredith and herself got into these types of fights, her mother would always win. After a good year of knowing Meredith, she had become a role model for Lou and Lou couldn't have asked for a better one. Derek adored her, as did the others and she fit perfectly into the family. She gripped on to the elegant fingers that were welcoming her hand and they set off on their walk to the park again.

Once they had reached the gate to the park, Lou spotted Maya and Alex on the swings and couldn't run fast enough to get to them. Meredith laughed, watching her tiny legs carrying her as fast as possible. Meredith felt a pair of arms snake their way around her waist, tugging at her hips to inch her body closer to the mysterious person and eventually came the point of contact between her back and his chest. She knew immediately who it was before she even looked. The hands were so distinct as was the intoxicating smell… Eau de Derek she had once nicknamed it and it had stuck.

"You look too young to have a child of that age," He whispered softly in her ear, making the soft curls around it tickle her neck as they moved with his breath.

"You look too old to be hitting on a woman of my age," She joked causing him to laugh and subsequently move her whole body with his.

"Hmmmmm, that was harsh," Derek murmurred, letting his mouth move from her ear to her neck, nestling softly in the crook of it.

"How was your day? The kids?" Meredith asked him, twisting out of his delicious frame and holding onto one of the arms that was previously wrapped around her. She weaved her fingers through his, knotting their hands together. They started walking towards the tree that the family claimed as their own. It had so many engravings and marks from them it was hard to deny the claim.

"Day was fine, kids were ok… how was Lou's doctor's appointment?" Derek asked.

"Well, he claims she'll keep growing but at a slower rate to the other's. She'll always be the small one apparently. Maximum height she'll grow to is about five foot two but we just need to make sure her weight stays in proportion. There is a strong risk that she could undereat or overeat so we have to monitor it when it seems to be tipping either way," She explained what the doctor had said.

"Mer," Emily shouted across the park, holding a basketball in her hands by the baskets.

"Hey," Meredith replied, nearly shouting.

"Come shoot some balls with me and Alex," She shouted back. Meredith nodded her way before turning back to Derek.

"I'm so not in the right clothing for this," she muttered to Derek who was beside her. His eyes wandered over her gorgeous curves at her skirt, flip-flops and tank top. Her sunglasses were held on top of her head, gripping her hair back.

"I can always help you with that," He said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it. "Maybe… (kiss)… I can (kiss)… take off (kiss)… that ridiculous top (kiss)… and help you (kiss)… out of that (kiss)… hideous skirt…" His kisses had trailed up her arm and were now nuzzling back in her neck, the spot that he knew drove her crazy.

"Hmmmmm," Meredith felt her knees go weak as his tongue flicked its way across her sensitive skin just above her collarbone. "Maybe… you could stop trying to undress me in front of the kids and a park." She reluctantly pulled away.

"Fine," Derek sighed, rejected for a better option.

He watched as she walked away from him, looking back briefly to smirk in his direction. He couldn't help but reciprocate the smirk because it was so infectious. Just like her laugh. Over the last year they had been through a lot. Too much for a couple who had just started dating whilst all the drama happened. The year had become easier though and soon they managed to get into a routine. Meredith still had her apartment, still had Cristina as a roommate but most of the time she was at the Shepherd's house. Lou had started calling her Mummy first, swiftly followed by Maya then Jake. Alex and Emily, having more memories of Addison were a lot less easy to catch on. Eventually Alex did, only occasionally referring to her as Meredith but Emily had yet to say the "M" word… Mum.

Derek could understand Emily's initial hostility for the first couple of months of their relationship. The family were constantly in the limelight since the media found out about the Meredith's intimacy with Derek and could rarely go out as a whole family unit without being hounded. Slowly though, the children got used to it as did Derek and it all became part of their routine.

As for Derek and Meredith, they had agreed to take their sweet time and that was exactly what was happening. He was so head-over-heels in love with her it sometimes took his breath away. She would simply walk past him in the kitchen, plant a small kiss on his lips as she went and it would make him giddy for the rest of the day.

Lately, she had been spending ninety percent of her time with the family. Just last month she had taken them to see the premiere of the film "Happy Feet" in which she was one of the star voices. She had sauntered down the red carpet, holding Maya and Lou's hands and Jacob who had waltzed his way in front, the smooth talker he was. He had looked adorable, ever more the mini-me of Derek as the two wore matching tuxedos.

Last week, Meredith had taken Emily with her on a weekend vacation as the tv show Meredith was currently starring in was on location in New York. Emily had come back, having formed more bonds with Meredith than she thought were possible to even make with her father. She finally had that someone to look up to.

Unlike Derek, Meredith didn't care to have a favourite. It was clear to everyone that Lou had Derek wrapped around his finger but Meredith was different. She saw each child differently and knew exactly how to handle their actions, moods and behaviour. She was a perfect mum and though a little reluctant to admit the role at first, it only took one look into Derek's eyes to know it was all worth it.

The best thing about Meredith and Derek's relationship however was their alone time. Once a week, they forgot the kids, left them in the trusty arms of Emily and Cristina and enjoyed a random night out. Being the combination of a bookstore owner, a surgeon, an actress, a model and parents, they had some pretty amazing nights in some amazing places.

Still, after all this time, his favourite thing to do with her was to just watch her without her knowing. He would watch her flick her hair back, smile in the way that made her eyes glint with excitement, giggle so infectiously he found himself laughing, play stupidly with the kids which made him somehow love her that much more. He recalled a special moment with her…

It was a Saturday morning, in the living room, whilst the kids were at various pracitses including gymnastics, football and swimming when they first let their emotions speak for themselves. It had been four months and three weeks since the car crash in which he had first met her and three months since the incident with Rafe and Lauren. They were having a silly argument about milk and although it was an argument, Derek couldn't help but feel the love oozing from the situation.

"Derek, it is not my fault I want semi-skimmed milk. It's healthier for the kids and you so go with it, would you?" Meredith shouted.

"NO!" Derek yelled back, passion rising within him. "Why should I change the milk we've always had just for you! Come on, compromise for once Mer."

"Don't you 'compromise for once Mer' me Derek. It's just milk."

"MILK MATTERS!"

She picked up a pillow and began hitting him with it whilst saying "No… it… doesn't", hitting him once between each word.

"Owwww," Derek cried as one hit blew to his head. "Step away from the pillow Meredith."

She couldn't help the smirk tugging on her lips, causing them to swerve into a smile.

"Stop it!" She yelled at him, her face immediately withdrawing to a frown.

"Stop what?" He cried innocently.

"That stupid charm thing you do. You can talk your way out of any situation and I hate it and I HATE YOU," Meredith shouted the last part.

"WELL… that's just fine Meredith. I hate you too!" Derek responded, joining her exhausted body on the sofa, flopping into the soft material with her.

"What were we fighting about again?" She asked after a minute of silence.

"Errrrr…" Derek stuttered. "I can't remember. But I do know I still hate you."

"You do not," Meredith eyed him with suspicion.

"No, I don't. I can't. Only cos I love you," Derek slipped out.

"What?" She thought she'd heard wrong.

"I love you," Derek whispered, barely audible in case rejection struck him.

"Seriously?" Meredith asked him, starting to stand up.

"Yeah…"

"Seriously Derek? OF ALL THE TIMES IN THE WORLD… YOU CHOOSE NOW TO TELL ME THIS? AFTER A FIGHT?"

"Sorry," He muttered quietly.

"YOU BETTER BE," Meredith shouted. "YOU ARE SERIOUSLY SO FRUSTRATING. ONE MINUTE I WANT TO SMOTHER YOU IN KISSES AND THE NEXT I WANT TO RING YOUR NECK. I'VE NEVER FELT SUCH A SURGE OF PASSION TOWARDS ANYONE IN MY LIFE, I HATE YOU BUT ONLY COS I LOVE YOU."

He looked up at her stunned.

"You what?"

She hadn't expected that last bit to come out much in the same fashion that he hadn't expected his wording to come out.

"I think I said I love you," She smiled down at his sitting frame.

"I think you did too," He smirked, grabbing her hand and making her fall on top of him. He looked into her eyes and softly kissed her on the lips.

"Mmmmmmm, so what's it like to be in love?" Meredith asked.

"It's like living a dream," Derek answered.

As he followed the markings around the tree, reflecting on such happy times, he knew there were only more to come. He walked over to his family who had all gathered around the swings.

"Ready to go home kiddos?" Derek asked.

"Yeah," They replied in unison.

Lou immediately asked for a lift which Derek granted and which Meredith rolled her eyes at. She climbed onto his back, gripping his shoulders in a piggy-back ride, the other two bigger triplets latched onto his hands.

Emily and Meredith walked ahead talking about girly stuff as usual and Derek watched in adoration from behind.

"Alex," Derek yelled to the young boy retreiving his bike from the middle of the park. "Come on."

He rode his bike over swiftly and slowed back down as he approached his father.

"Let me have a go," Jacob asked. He climbed onto the back of the seat as Alex stood up, pedalling to keep the two balanced. They rode ahead to the Meredith and Emily.

"So what do you think girlies? Life is good?" He asked them.

"Life is goooooooooood!" Lou laughed from her position on his back.

"Amen to that!" Maya smiled up at her father, happiness filling his soul at the sight of their perfect family.

"Amen indeed," He muttered.

**Bet you were expecting something reeeeaaallly dramatic to happen in that chapter weren't you?**

**Well... here it is... I'm afraid that's the end!**

**I've loved writing this fanfic more than any other purely cos of the response i've gotten and the gorgeous and kind comments i have received. I know you all requested 25 chapters but that involved a merder split and i cant justify doing it to you because the way season 3 ended. Plus, this way, i can leave this story on a high and start a new story (which i have started and you should ALL read!)**

**For the final time (awwww, i'm actually quite sad!) I'd like to say (can't say thanks enough) thank you to the following people:**

**Lou, CD, TCF, Melissa, Kilikina1, ilovepatrick, 2SeXy4MYsCRUbs, JainaZekk621, Dilly0702, Endzi, Greysaddict21, ga-4-ever, alexandizzie4eva, desecretperson, Ciaobella06, GAqueen, SeriouslyABC, dancinluva20, McAddicted315, KB22.**

**The thanks go especially to the regulars who have remained with me to the end! Thanks goes to the people who have reviewed loyally but just not the last chapter and thanks also goes to the random commenters cos they're just fun to read! I will miss your reviews cos they all seem to make me smile and laugh even if they're mean- (a particular one involving some threats of violence springs to mind!!)**

**So general gist of that was THANK YOU!**

**SO going against requests which i actually asked for from you, i'm very sorry but this is the end. There will always be more angsty stories from me as well as more fluffy stories. So keep a look out for them and remember to review for me. It will just show me how much you care! (i might as well get sentimental as this is the last of my long author notes!)**

**See the lil purple review button thingy... hit it one last time for this story and you'll make me the happiest girl alive!**

**LOVE YOU ALL**

**Emsy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


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